Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 3, 2026.
Barton County, Missouri, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Barton County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. An arrest 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 Barton County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Barton County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Barton County
The Barton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Barton County. It reported 18 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Barton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Lamar, 4,299 residents: 93 arrests reported for 2024.
- Liberal, 634 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Barton County
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.
- Barton County Sheriff's Office: 18 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 20 for 2022, 21 for 2021 and 18 for 2020.
- Liberal: 0 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 0 for 2023 and 0 for 2022.
- Lamar: 93 for 2024, 98 for 2023, 117 for 2022, 169 for 2021, 102 for 2020 and 286 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 18 in 2025 against 39 in 2024.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 5 arrests, against 1 in the same months of 2025.
Lamar reported only part of 2025 (6 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Barton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Barton County 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 2019 the jail held about 20 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 27 beds, and it ran at 74 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 Barton County Sheriff's Office at countyofbarton.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff), phone 417-682-5515, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 3, 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 Barton County
An arrest in Barton County 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 countyofbarton.gov/prosecuting-attorney, phone 417-682-5000).
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 Barton County
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 Barton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 417-682-5515.
- An arrest in Lamar or Liberal: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 417-682-5000, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Barton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Barton County: Lamar and Liberal. Golden City, Mindenmines, Lamar Heights and Milford have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Barton County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Barton County each year?
The Barton County Sheriff's Office reported 18 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 18 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Barton County?
Ask the Barton County Sheriff's Office at 417-682-5515; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at countyofbarton.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Barton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Barton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Barton County?
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 Barton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Barton County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Missouri Sunshine Law the answer is due within 3 business days.
Is this the official Barton County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.