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.
Nelson County, Kentucky, has about 49,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Nelson County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies 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 Nelson 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: Nelson County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Nelson County
The Nelson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Nelson County. It reported 109 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:
- Bardstown, 14,104 residents: 505 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bloomfield, 994 residents: 22 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 Nelson County: Nelson County Schools and Bardstown Schools (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Nelson 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.
- Bardstown: 505 for 2025, 473 for 2024, 456 for 2023, 495 for 2022, 555 for 2021 and 492 for 2020.
- Nelson County Sheriff's Office: 109 for 2025, 165 for 2024, 157 for 2023, 119 for 2021, 96 for 2020 and 118 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Bloomfield: 22 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 2 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 12 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 636 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 636 in 2025 against 641 in 2024, down 0.8 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 290 arrests, against 311 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Nelson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Nelson 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 130 people on an average day, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 102 beds, and it is running at 126 percent of it. 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 Nelson County
For Nelson County the place to look is the case index of the Nelson 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/Nelson.aspx, phone 502-348-3648).
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 Nelson 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 Nelson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Bardstown or Bloomfield: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Nelson County Schools or Bardstown Schools: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Nelson Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 502-348-3648.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at nelsoncountyky.gov/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Nelson County, Kentucky).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Nelson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Nelson County: Bardstown and Bloomfield. New Haven and Fairfield 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 Nelson Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Nelson County each year?
Bardstown reported 505 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 636 between them.
Where are people arrested in Nelson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Nelson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Nelson 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 Nelson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Nelson 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 nelsoncountyky.gov/open-records-request.
Is this the official Nelson 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.