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 9, 2026.
Montgomery County, Kentucky, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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: Montgomery County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Montgomery County
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Montgomery County. It reported 887 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Montgomery County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Mount Sterling, 7,588 residents: 430 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 Montgomery County: the Montgomery County School District and Gateway Area Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Montgomery 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.
- Montgomery County Sheriff's Office: 887 for 2025, 797 for 2024, 787 for 2023, 932 for 2022, 804 for 2021 and 546 for 2020.
- Mount Sterling: 430 for 2025, 535 for 2024, 677 for 2023, 626 for 2022, 459 for 2021 and 650 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,317 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,317 in 2025 against 1,332 in 2024, down 1.1 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 775 arrests, against 823 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Montgomery County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Montgomery 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 190 people on an average day, up from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 134 beds, and it is running at 140 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 Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at mcsojail.countygovservices.com/Home/Menu (page title: Montgomery County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Montgomery County
For Montgomery County the place to look is the case index of the Montgomery 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/Montgomery.aspx, phone 859-498-5966).
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 Montgomery County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Montgomery County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Mount Sterling: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Montgomery County School District or Gateway Area Drug Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Montgomery Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 859-498-5966.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Montgomery County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Montgomery County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Montgomery County: Mount Sterling. Jeffersonville and Camargo have 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 Montgomery Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Montgomery County each year?
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office reported 887 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,317 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Montgomery County?
Ask the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mcsojail.countygovservices.com/Home/Menu.
Where are people arrested in Montgomery County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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.