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.
Martin County, Kentucky, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Martin County Sheriff's Office 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 Martin 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: Martin County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Martin County
The Martin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Martin County. It reported 288 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Martin County: Martin County Schools (other).
How Many Arrests The Martin County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Martin County Sheriff's Office: 288 for 2025, 338 for 2024, 364 for 2023, 369 for 2022 and 457 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office's 288 arrests in 2025 were down 15 percent from 338 in 2024.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Martin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Martin 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 27 people, down from about 32 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 21 beds, and it ran at 128 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 Martin County Sheriff's Office at martincounty.ky.gov/elected/Pages/sheriff.aspx (page title: Sheriff | Martin County), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Martin County
For Martin County the place to look is the case index of the Martin 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/Martin.aspx, phone 606-298-3508).
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 Martin 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 Martin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by Martin County Schools: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Martin Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-298-3508.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Martin County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Martin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Martin County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Martin Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Martin County each year?
The Martin County Sheriff's Office reported 288 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Martin County?
Ask the Martin County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at martincounty.ky.gov.
Where are people arrested in Martin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Martin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Martin 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 Martin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Martin 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 Martin 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.