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 25, 2026.
Mexico, Missouri, in Audrain County, has about 11,000 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 Audrain 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: Mexico public records, Audrain County arrest records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Mexico
The FBI lists Mexico with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Mexico Police Department. It reported 645 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 Audrain County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 157 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Mexico 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.
- Mexico: 645 for 2025, 440 for 2021, 589 for 2020 and 530 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Through April 2026, Mexico reported 184 arrests, against 257 in the same months of 2025.
Across Audrain County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 802 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mexico Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mexico 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 2022 the jail held about 45 people, up from about 36 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022 was 140 beds, and it ran at 32 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Audrain County Sheriff's Office at audrainsheriff.com/inmate-lookup (page title: Current Inmate Lookup | Audrain County Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Mexico
Whether someone was arrested in Mexico, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Audrain County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Audrain County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at audraincounty.org/circuit-court); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at audraincounty.org/prosecuting-attorney, phone 573-473-5860).
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 Mexico
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 Mexico police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at mexicomissouri.net/113/Public-Safety (page title: Public Safety | Mexico, MO), phone 573-473-5800, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Audrain County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 573-473-5860, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Audrain County Circuit Court, through the court records page at audraincounty.org/circuit-court.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Audrain County guide covers every agency in the county: Audrain County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mexico each year?
Mexico reported 645 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mexico?
Look on the custody page of the Audrain County Sheriff's Office at audrainsheriff.com/inmate-lookup. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Mexico booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Audrain County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mexico?
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 Mexico?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mexico police for its own arrests, the Audrain County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Missouri Sunshine Law the answer is due within 3 business days.
Is this the official Mexico 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.