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.
Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cape Girardeau County is held at the county jail, run by the Cape Girardeau 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: Cape Girardeau County public records, Cape Girardeau County arrest records, Cape Girardeau County warrants, Cape Girardeau County criminal records, Cape Girardeau County court records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Cape Girardeau County
The county jail, run by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Cape Girardeau County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office at capecountysheriff.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=de... (page title: Inmate Roster | Cape Girardeau County MO Sheriff's Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 573.204.2933, 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 Cape Girardeau County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 220 people, up from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 225 beds, and it ran at 97 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Cape Girardeau County has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 27 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Cape Girardeau County Jail
The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Delta make the arrests that end in a booking in Cape Girardeau County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Cape Girardeau County: Southeast Missouri State University (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Cape Girardeau's 1,225 for 2024, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office's 313 for 2025 and Jackson's 296 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Cape Girardeau County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,975 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 Cape Girardeau County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Cape Girardeau County serves the sentence in a facility of the Missouri Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Cape Girardeau County?
Look on the custody page of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office at capecountysheriff.org, or call 573.204.2933. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Cape Girardeau County jail?
About 220 on an average day in 2021, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 225 beds.
What is the phone number for the Cape Girardeau County jail?
573.204.2933, the number on the page of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Cape Girardeau 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 Cape Girardeau 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.