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.
Owsley County, Kentucky, has about 3,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Owsley 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 Owsley 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: Owsley County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Owsley County
The Owsley County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Owsley County. It reported 128 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Owsley County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Booneville, 158 residents: 3 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 Owsley 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.
- Owsley County Sheriff's Office: 128 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 189 for 2023, 84 for 2021, 84 for 2020 and 288 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Booneville: 3 for 2025, 5 for 2024, 6 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 131 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 131 in 2025 against 84 in 2024, up 56 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 39 arrests, against 70 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Owsley County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Owsley County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 13 people, down from about 41 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 10 beds, and it ran at 128 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 Owsley County
For Owsley County the place to look is the case index of the Owsley 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/Owsley.aspx, phone 606 593-6226).
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 Owsley 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 Owsley County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Booneville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Owsley Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 606 593-6226.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Owsley County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Booneville, the one city in Owsley County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Owsley Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Owsley County each year?
The Owsley County Sheriff's Office reported 128 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 131 between them.
Where are people arrested in Owsley County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Owsley County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Owsley 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 Owsley County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Owsley 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 Owsley 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.