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.
Owen County, Kentucky, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Owen 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 Owen 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: Owen County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Owen County
The Owen County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Owen County. It reported 104 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Owen County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Owenton, 1,682 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 Owen 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.
- Owen County Sheriff's Office: 104 for 2025, 144 for 2024, 149 for 2023, 221 for 2022 and 141 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Owenton: 76 for 2025, 123 for 2023, 127 for 2022, 80 for 2021 and 41 for 2020; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 180 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 104 in 2025 against 144 in 2024, down 28 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Owen County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Owen 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 42 people. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 25 beds, and it ran at 170 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Owen County
For Owen County the place to look is the case index of the Owen 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/Owen.aspx, phone 502-484-2232).
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 Owen 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 Owen County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Owenton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Owen Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 502-484-2232.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at owencountyky.us (page title: Open Records Request | Owen County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Owen County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Owen County: Owenton. Monterey and Gratz 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 Owen Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Owen County each year?
The Owen County Sheriff's Office reported 104 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 180 between them.
Where are people arrested in Owen County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Owen County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Owen 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 Owen County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Owen 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 owencountyky.us.
Is this the official Owen 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.