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.
Monroe County, Kentucky, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Monroe 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 Monroe 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: Monroe County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Monroe County. It reported 87 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Tompkinsville, 2,239 residents: 132 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fountain Run, 219 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Monroe 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.
- Tompkinsville: 132 for 2025, 172 for 2024, 89 for 2023, 185 for 2022, 191 for 2021 and 129 for 2020.
- Monroe County Sheriff's Office: 87 for 2025, 114 for 2023, 123 for 2022, 110 for 2021 and 121 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
- Fountain Run: 0 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 5 for 2023, 4 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 219 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 132 in 2025 against 174 in 2024, down 24 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 134 arrests, against 105 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Monroe County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Monroe 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 2016 the jail held about 29 people. 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 Monroe County
For Monroe County the place to look is the case index of the Monroe 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/Monroe.aspx, phone 270-487-5480).
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 Monroe 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Tompkinsville or Fountain Run: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Monroe Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-487-5480.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Monroe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Monroe County: Tompkinsville and Fountain Run. Gamaliel 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 Monroe Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Monroe County each year?
Tompkinsville reported 132 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 219 between them.
Where are people arrested in Monroe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Monroe 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 Monroe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Monroe 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 Monroe 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.