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 September 30, 2026.
Bates County, Missouri, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bates County is held at the county jail, run by the Bates County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Bates County public records, Bates County arrest records, Bates County warrants, Bates County criminal records, Bates County court records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Bates County
The county jail, run by the Bates County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Bates County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Bates County Sheriff's Office at batescountysheriff.gov/inmate-roster (page title: Inmate Roster | Bates County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Bates County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 11 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 106 beds, and it ran at 124 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Bates County has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 7 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Bates County Jail
The Bates County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Butler, Adrian and Rich Hill make the arrests that end in a booking in Bates County.
The Drexel Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Bates County, so its arrests are not broken out for Bates County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Butler's 140 for 2025, the Bates County Sheriff's Office's 78 for 2025 and Adrian's 16 for 2025.
Together, the four agencies in Bates County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 245 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Bates County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Missouri Department of Corrections lists its inmates at web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Bates County?
Look on the custody page of the Bates County Sheriff's Office at batescountysheriff.gov/inmate-roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Bates County jail?
About 11 on an average day in 2021, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 106 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Bates County go?
To a facility of the Missouri Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb.
Is this the official Bates 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.