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 October 2, 2026.
Meade County, Kentucky, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Meade County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Meade 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: Meade County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Meade County
The Meade County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Meade County. It reported 406 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Meade County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Brandenburg, 2,974 residents: 106 arrests reported for 2025.
- Muldraugh, 1,016 residents: 44 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 Meade 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.
- Meade County Sheriff's Office: 406 for 2025, 503 for 2024, 499 for 2023, 503 for 2022, 407 for 2021 and 634 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Brandenburg: 106 for 2025, 64 for 2024, 122 for 2023, 159 for 2022, 155 for 2021 and 147 for 2020.
- Muldraugh: 44 for 2025, 30 for 2024, 77 for 2023, 65 for 2022, 40 for 2021 and 53 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 556 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 556 in 2025 against 597 in 2024, down 6.9 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 293 arrests, against 379 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Meade County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Meade 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 100 people on an average day, down from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 173 beds, and it is running at 58 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 Meade County Sheriff's Office at meadeky.gov/234/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Meade County, KY), phone 270-422-4937, 516 Hillcrest Drive Suite 14 Brandenburg, KY 40108, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4:30 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 Meade County
For Meade County the place to look is the case index of the Meade 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/Meade.aspx, phone 270-422-4961).
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 Meade 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 Meade County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 270-422-4937.
- An arrest in Brandenburg or Muldraugh: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Meade Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-422-4961.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at meadeky.gov/275/Open-Records-Request (page title: Open Records Request | Meade County, KY).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Meade County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Meade County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Meade County: Brandenburg and Muldraugh. Ekron 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 Meade Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Meade County each year?
The Meade County Sheriff's Office reported 406 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 556 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Meade County?
Ask the Meade County Sheriff's Office at 270-422-4937; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at meadeky.gov/234/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Meade County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Meade County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Meade 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 Meade County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Meade 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 meadeky.gov/275/Open-Records-Request.
Is this the official Meade 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.