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.
Lincoln County, Kentucky, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. 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 Lincoln 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: Lincoln County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lincoln County
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lincoln County. It reported 866 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Stanford, 3,702 residents: 176 arrests reported for 2025.
- Crab Orchard, 757 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hustonville, 396 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.
The Junction City Police Department and the Eubank Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Lincoln County, so their arrests are not broken out for Lincoln County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lincoln 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.
- Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: 866 for 2025, 924 for 2024, 969 for 2023, 531 for 2022, 551 for 2021 and 454 for 2020.
- Stanford: 176 for 2025, 194 for 2024, 293 for 2023, 377 for 2022, 362 for 2021 and 355 for 2020.
- Hustonville: 0 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
- Crab Orchard: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,042 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,042 in 2025 against 1,119 in 2024, down 6.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 409 arrests, against 632 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lincoln County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lincoln 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 2021 the jail held about 74 people, down from about 82 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2021 was 41 beds, and it ran at 178 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at p2c.lincolnsheriff.org/jailinmates.aspx (page title: Lincoln County Sheriffs Office P2C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Lincoln County
An arrest in Lincoln County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Lincoln 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/Lincoln.aspx, phone 606-365-2535); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lincolnky.com/government/administration/county_attorney.php, phone (606) 365-9161).
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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Stanford, Crab Orchard or Hustonville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, (606) 365-9161, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lincoln Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-365-2535.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lincoln.clerkinfo.net/?page_id=1888 (page title: Open Records Request | Lincoln County KY Clerk).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lincoln County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Lincoln County: Stanford, Crab Orchard and Hustonville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Lincoln Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lincoln County each year?
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office reported 866 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,042 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lincoln County?
Ask the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at p2c.lincolnsheriff.org/jailinmates.aspx.
Where are people arrested in Lincoln County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lincoln 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 lincoln.clerkinfo.net/?page_id=1888.
Is this the official Lincoln 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.