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.
McCracken County, Kentucky, has about 68,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and two other 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 McCracken 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: McCracken County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in McCracken County
The McCracken County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for McCracken County. It reported 1,891 arrests for 2025.
One city in McCracken County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Paducah, 26,712 residents: 2,494 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 these agencies in McCracken County: McCracken County Public Schools and Paducah Independent Schools (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in McCracken 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.
- Paducah: 2,494 for 2025, 2,996 for 2024, 3,602 for 2023, 3,274 for 2022, 2,341 for 2021 and 1,759 for 2020.
- McCracken County Sheriff's Office: 1,891 for 2025, 1,749 for 2024, 1,787 for 2023, 1,860 for 2022, 1,464 for 2021 and 1,358 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,385 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,385 in 2025 against 4,745 in 2024, down 7.6 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,547 arrests, against 2,907 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in McCracken County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in McCracken 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 420 people on an average day, down from about 520 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 471 beds, and it is running at 90 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the McCracken County Sheriff's Office at mccrackencountyky.gov/mccracken-county-sheriff (page title: McCracken County Sheriff | McCracken County KY), 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 McCracken County
For McCracken County the place to look is the case index of the McCracken 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/McCracken.aspx, phone 270-575-7280).
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 McCracken 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 McCracken County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Paducah: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by McCracken County Public Schools or Paducah Independent Schools: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the McCracken Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-575-7280.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in McCracken County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Paducah, the one city in McCracken County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the McCracken Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in McCracken County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Paducah (26,712)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in McCracken County each year?
Paducah reported 2,494 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,385 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in McCracken County?
Ask the McCracken County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mccrackencountyky.gov.
Where are people arrested in McCracken County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the McCracken County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in McCracken 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 McCracken County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the McCracken 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 McCracken 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.