Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.
Johnson County, Kentucky, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one other agency. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Johnson Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Johnson County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Johnson County
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Johnson County. It reported 265 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Johnson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Paintsville, 4,129 residents: 363 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Johnson County: Johnson County Schools (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Johnson County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Paintsville: 363 for 2025, 295 for 2024, 265 for 2023, 244 for 2022, 262 for 2021 and 458 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Johnson County Sheriff's Office: 265 for 2025, 235 for 2024, 397 for 2023, 464 for 2022, 480 for 2021 and 339 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 628 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 628 in 2025 against 530 in 2024, up 18 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 393 arrests, against 394 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Johnson County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Johnson County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 190 people on an average day, up from about 61 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 150 beds, and it is running at 128 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Kentucky Department of Corrections lists its inmates at kool.corrections.ky.gov/.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Johnson County
For Johnson County the place to look is the case index of the Johnson Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at kycourts.gov/Courts/County-Information/Pages/Johnson.aspx, phone 606-297-9567).
Kentucky is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Administrative Office of the Courts, not the state police, sells name-based criminal record reports to the public, for $25 a search, through the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Johnson County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying, 10 cents a page for standard copies.
- An arrest by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Paintsville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Johnson County Schools: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Johnson Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-297-9567.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at johnsoncoky.com (page title: Johnson County | Open Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Johnson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Paintsville, the one city in Johnson County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Johnson Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Johnson County each year?
Paintsville reported 363 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 628 between them.
Where are people arrested in Johnson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Johnson County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts: the Administrative Office of the Courts, not the state police, sells name-based criminal record reports to the public, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Johnson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Johnson County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act the answer is due within 5 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at johnsoncoky.com.
Is this the official Johnson County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.