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.
Union, Missouri, in Franklin County, has about 13,000 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 Franklin 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: Union public records, Franklin County arrest records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Union
The FBI lists Union with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Union Police Department. It reported 174 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 63 arrests for 2022.
How Many Arrests Union 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.
- Union: 174 for 2024, 247 for 2023, 247 for 2022, 291 for 2021, 239 for 2020 and 313 for 2019.
Union's 174 arrests in 2024 were down 30 percent from 247 in 2023.
Across Franklin County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,212 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Union Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Union 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 2019 the jail held about 180 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 130 beds, and it ran at 136 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklinmo.gov/218/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Franklin County, MO), phone 636-582-8600, 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 Union
For Union the place to look is the case index of the Franklin County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fcmcclerk.com/case/search).
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 Union
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 Union police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at unionmissouri.gov/government/departments/police_department/index.php (page title: Welcome to Union, MO), phone 636-583-3700, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 636-582-8600.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Franklin County Circuit Court, through the court records page at fcmcclerk.com/case/search.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Franklin County guide covers every agency in the county: Franklin County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Union each year?
Union reported 174 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Union?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at 636-582-8600; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at franklinmo.gov/218/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Union booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Union?
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 Union?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Union police for its own arrests, the Franklin 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 Union 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.