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 2024. 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 October 4, 2026.
Liberty, Missouri, in Clay County, has about 31,000 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 Clay 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: Liberty public records, Clay County arrest records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Liberty
The FBI lists Liberty with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Liberty Police Department. It reported 352 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year. 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,626 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Liberty Reports
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.
- Liberty: 352 for 2024, 301 for 2023, 202 for 2022 and 738 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Liberty's 352 arrests in 2024 were up 17 percent from 301 in 2023.
Across Clay County, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,274 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Liberty Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Liberty 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 2023 the jail held about 180 people, down from about 340 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 380 beds, and it ran at 47 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office at sheriffclayco.org/how-do-i/find-out-if-someone-is-in-jail (page title: How Do I Find If Someone is in Jail? | Clay County Sheriff's Office), phone 816-407-3800, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Missouri Department of Corrections lists its inmates at web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Liberty
An arrest in Liberty can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Case.net, the Missouri courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at claycountymo.gov/485/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 816-736-8300).
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 Liberty
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 Missouri Sunshine Law the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge research time and copying.
- An arrest by the Liberty police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at libertymissouri.gov/55/Police (page title: Police | the City of Liberty Official Website!), phone 816.439.4710, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Clay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 816-407-3800.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 816-736-8300, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at claycountymo.gov (page title: CLAY COUNTY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE 1 Courthouse Square Liberty, MO 64068-2390).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Clay County guide covers every agency in the county: Clay County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Liberty each year?
Liberty reported 352 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Liberty?
Ask the Clay County Sheriff's Office at 816-407-3800; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriffclayco.org.
Where are people arrested in Liberty booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Liberty?
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 Liberty?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Liberty police for its own arrests, the Clay 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 claycountymo.gov.
Is this the official Liberty 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.