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.
Morgan County, Kentucky, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Morgan 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: Morgan County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Morgan County
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Morgan County. It reported 89 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists one city in Morgan County with a reporting agency of its own:
- West Liberty, 3,257 residents: 76 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 Morgan 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.
- West Liberty: 76 for 2025, 92 for 2024, 165 for 2023, 84 for 2022, 52 for 2021 and 85 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Morgan County Sheriff's Office: 89 for 2024, 145 for 2023, 147 for 2022, 306 for 2021, 158 for 2020 and 106 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 181 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 181 in 2024 against 310 in 2023, down 42 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Morgan County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Morgan 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 2024 the jail held about 35 people, down from about 40 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 28 beds, and it ran at 129 percent of it that year. 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 Morgan County
For Morgan County the place to look is the case index of the Morgan 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/Morgan.aspx, phone 606-743-3763).
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 Morgan 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 Morgan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in West Liberty: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Morgan Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606-743-3763.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Morgan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for West Liberty, the one city in Morgan County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Morgan Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Morgan County each year?
West Liberty reported 76 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Morgan County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 181 between them.
Where are people arrested in Morgan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Morgan 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 Morgan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Morgan 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 Morgan 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.