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 October 2, 2026.
Rolla, Missouri, in Phelps County, has about 21,000 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 Phelps 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: Rolla public records, Phelps County arrest records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Rolla
The FBI lists Rolla with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Rolla Police Department. It reported 881 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 Phelps County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 241 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Phelps County: Missouri University of Science and Technology (campus police).
How Many Arrests Rolla 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.
- Rolla: 881 for 2025, 749 for 2024, 939 for 2023, 1,011 for 2022, 1,044 for 2021 and 931 for 2020.
Rolla's 881 arrests in 2025 were up 18 percent from 749 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Rolla reported 519 arrests, against 411 in the same months of 2025.
Across Phelps County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,218 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rolla Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rolla 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 210 people, up from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 263 beds, and it ran at 79 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 Phelps County Sheriff's Office at phelpscountysheriff.com/corrections (page title: Corrections | Phelps County Sheriff's Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Rolla
For Rolla the place to look is Case.net, the Missouri courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Rolla
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 Rolla police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at rollacity.gov/departments/police/report_requests_payments_(in_progr... (page title: Report Request), phone (573) 426-6948, 901 North Elm Street, Rolla, MO 65401, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Phelps County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Phelps County guide covers every agency in the county: Phelps County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rolla each year?
Rolla reported 881 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Rolla?
Ask the Phelps County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at phelpscountysheriff.com/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Rolla booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Phelps County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rolla?
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 Rolla?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rolla police for its own arrests, the Phelps 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 Rolla 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.