Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Jefferson City, Missouri, in Cole County, has about 43,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Cole County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Jefferson City public records, Cole County arrest records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson City
The FBI lists Jefferson City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Jefferson City Police Department. It reported 1,602 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Cole County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 393 arrests for 2022.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Cole County: the Marshal's Office's 19th Judicial District (other); the Capitol Police (state agency); Lincoln University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Jefferson City Reports
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.
- Jefferson City: 1,602 for 2025, 1,990 for 2024, 1,766 for 2023, 1,692 for 2022, 1,664 for 2021 and 1,636 for 2020.
Jefferson City's 1,602 arrests in 2025 were down 19 percent from 1,990 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Jefferson City reported 1,003 arrests, against 925 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson City Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Jefferson City 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 2022 the jail held about 160 people, down from about 180 in 2018. Its rated capacity in 2022 was 208 beds, and it ran at 75 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Cole County Sheriff's Office at colecounty.org/245/Jail (page title: Jail | Cole County, MO), phone 573-634-9160, 350 E High Street Jefferson City, MO 65101, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Missouri Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Jefferson City
An arrest in Jefferson City can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Cole County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at colecounty.org/354/Calendars-and-Dockets); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at colecounty.org/180/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 573-634-9180).
Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
Missouri is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the open record search on the MACHS site lets anyone check convictions by name, through the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services Division. 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 Jefferson City
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Missouri Sunshine Law the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge research time and copying.
- An arrest by the Jefferson City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at jeffersoncitymo.gov/government/obtain_a_police_report.php (page title: Obtaining a Police Report), phone (573) 634-6400, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Cole County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 573-634-9160.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 573-634-9180, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Cole County Circuit Court, through the court records page at colecounty.org/354/Calendars-and-Dockets.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at colecounty.org (page title: Records Request Form Submitted | Cole County, MO).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Cole County guide covers every agency in the county: Cole County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson City each year?
Jefferson City reported 1,602 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jefferson City?
Ask the Cole County Sheriff's Office at 573-634-9160; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at colecounty.org/245/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Jefferson City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cole County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson City?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services Division: the open record search on the MACHS site lets anyone check convictions by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Missouri Sunshine Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Jefferson City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson City police for its own arrests, the Cole County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Missouri Sunshine Law the answer is due within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at colecounty.org.
Is this the official Jefferson City website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.