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.
Lawrence County, Kentucky, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office 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 Lawrence 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: Lawrence County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lawrence County
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lawrence County. It reported 262 arrests for 2025.
One city in Lawrence County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Louisa, 2,509 residents: 151 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 Lawrence 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.
- Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: 262 for 2025, 188 for 2024, 224 for 2023, 249 for 2022, 289 for 2021 and 148 for 2020.
- Louisa: 151 for 2025, 132 for 2024, 133 for 2023, 165 for 2022, 195 for 2021 and 155 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 413 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 413 in 2025 against 320 in 2024, up 29 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 196 arrests, against 295 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lawrence County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Lawrence 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.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 36 people, down from about 43 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 28 beds, and it ran at 128 percent of it that year. 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 Lawrence County
For Lawrence County the place to look is the case index of the Lawrence 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/Lawrence.aspx, phone 606-638-4215).
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 Lawrence County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Louisa: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lawrence Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-638-4215.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lawrencekyclerk.com/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Lawrence County Kentucky Clerk's office).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lawrence County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Lawrence County: Louisa. Blaine 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 Lawrence Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lawrence County each year?
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office reported 262 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 413 between them.
Where are people arrested in Lawrence County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lawrence 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 lawrencekyclerk.com/open-records-request.
Is this the official Lawrence 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.