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.
Shelby County, Kentucky, has about 50,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office and two city 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 Shelby 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: Shelby County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shelby County
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shelby County. It reported 420 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Shelby County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Shelbyville, 18,048 residents: 660 arrests reported for 2025.
- Simpsonville, 3,119 residents: 234 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 Shelby 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.
- Shelbyville: 660 for 2025, 569 for 2024, 611 for 2023, 511 for 2022, 525 for 2021 and 458 for 2020.
- Shelby County Sheriff's Office: 420 for 2025, 597 for 2024, 736 for 2023, 671 for 2022, 539 for 2021 and 500 for 2020.
- Simpsonville: 234 for 2025, 398 for 2024, 433 for 2023, 416 for 2022, 283 for 2021 and 329 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,314 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,314 in 2025 against 1,564 in 2024, down 16 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 903 arrests, against 919 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shelby County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shelby 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 330 people on an average day, up from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 316 beds, and it is running at 105 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office at shelbycounty.ky.gov/departments/Pages/sheriff.aspx (page title: Sheriff | Shelby County), phone (502) 633-4324, Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm, 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 Shelby County
An arrest in Shelby County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Shelby 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/Shelby.aspx, phone 502-633-1287); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at shelbycounty.ky.gov/elected-officials/Pages/commonwealth-attorney.aspx, phone (502) 647-3019).
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 Shelby 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (502) 633-4324.
- An arrest in Shelbyville or Simpsonville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, (502) 647-3019, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shelby Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 502-633-1287.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at shelbycounty.ky.gov (page title: Open Records | Shelby County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Shelby County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Shelby County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Shelby County: Shelbyville and Simpsonville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Shelby Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shelby County each year?
Shelbyville reported 660 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,314 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Shelby County?
Ask the Shelby County Sheriff's Office at (502) 633-4324; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at shelbycounty.ky.gov.
Where are people arrested in Shelby County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shelby 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 Shelby County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shelby 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 shelbycounty.ky.gov.
Is this the official Shelby 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.