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 2, 2026.
Benton County, Missouri, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Benton County is held at the county jail, run by the Benton 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: Benton County public records, Benton County arrest records, Benton County warrants, Benton County criminal records, Benton County court records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Benton County
The county jail, run by the Benton County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Benton County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Benton County Sheriff's Office at bentoncountysheriffmo.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_tim... (page title: Inmate Roster | Benton County MO Sheriff | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone 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.
The Benton County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 28 people, down from about 30 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 23 beds, and it ran at 130 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Benton County has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 14 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Benton County Jail
The Benton County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Warsaw, Lincoln and Cole Camp make the arrests that end in a booking in Benton County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Benton County: the Cole Camp School District (other agency).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Benton County Sheriff's Office's 97 for 2023, Warsaw's 67 for 2025 and Lincoln's 29 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Benton County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 97 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 Benton 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 Benton County?
Look on the custody page of the Benton County Sheriff's Office at bentoncountysheriffmo.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Benton County jail?
About 28 on an average day in 2021, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 23 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Benton 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 Benton 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.