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.
Simpson County, Kentucky, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Simpson 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 Simpson 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: Simpson County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Simpson County
The Simpson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Simpson County. It reported 364 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Simpson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Franklin, 10,524 residents: 447 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 Simpson 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.
- Franklin: 447 for 2025, 575 for 2024, 717 for 2023, 698 for 2022, 730 for 2021 and 490 for 2020.
- Simpson County Sheriff's Office: 364 for 2025, 564 for 2024, 661 for 2023, 808 for 2022, 796 for 2021 and 466 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 811 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 811 in 2025 against 1,139 in 2024, down 29 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 590 arrests, against 531 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Simpson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Simpson 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 190 people on an average day, down from about 310 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 231 beds, and it is running at 83 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 Simpson County
An arrest in Simpson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Simpson 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/Simpson.aspx, phone 270-586-4241); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at louisvilleprosecutor.com/assistants).
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 Simpson 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 Simpson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Franklin: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Simpson Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-586-4241.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Simpson County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Simpson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Franklin, the one city in Simpson County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Simpson Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Simpson County each year?
Franklin reported 447 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 811 between them.
Where are people arrested in Simpson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Simpson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Simpson 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 Simpson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Simpson 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 Simpson 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.