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 between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Knott County, Kentucky, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Knott County Sheriff's Office, one other county agency and one city 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 Knott 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: Knott County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Knott County
The Knott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Knott County. It reported 97 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The Knott County Police Department also reports arrests to the FBI as another county agency of Knott County.
One city in Knott County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Pippa Passes, 583 residents: 0 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Knott County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Pippa Passes: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 3 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
- Knott County Police Department: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 0 for 2023.
- Knott County Sheriff's Office: 97 for 2024, 86 for 2023, 59 for 2022, 74 for 2021 and 150 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 0 arrests that year.
Knott County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Knott County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Knott County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 65 people, down from about 84 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 34 beds, and it ran at 188 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Knott County Sheriff's Office at knottcountysheriff.com (page title: Knott County Sheriff), phone 606-785-5354, 54 W Main Street, Hindman, KY 41822, Mon-Fri: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Kentucky Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at kool.corrections.ky.gov/.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Knott County
For Knott County the place to look is the case index of the Knott 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/Knott.aspx, phone 606-785-5021).
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 Knott 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 Knott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 606-785-5354.
- An arrest in Pippa Passes: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Knott Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-785-5021.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Knott County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Knott County: Pippa Passes. Hindman has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Knott Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Knott County each year?
Pippa Passes reported 0 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 0 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Knott County?
Ask the Knott County Sheriff's Office at 606-785-5354; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at knottcountysheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Knott County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Knott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Knott 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 Knott County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Knott 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.
Is this the official Knott 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.