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.
Carter County, Missouri, has about 5,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Carter 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 Carter 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: Carter County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Carter County
The Carter County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Carter County. It reported 1 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Van Buren, 775 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ellsinore, 417 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 Carter County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Carter County Sheriff's Office: 1 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 2 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 1 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
- Van Buren: 0 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 4 for 2022, 23 for 2020 and 74 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Ellsinore: 0 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 8 for 2022 and 11 for 2020; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1 in 2025 against 13 in 2024.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Carter County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Carter 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.
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 Carter County
For Carter County the place to look is Case.net, the Missouri courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Carter 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 Carter County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Van Buren or Ellsinore: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Carter County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Carter County: Van Buren and Ellsinore. Grandin has 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 Carter County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Carter County each year?
The Carter County Sheriff's Office reported 1 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1 between them.
Where are people arrested in Carter County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Carter County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Carter 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 Carter County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Carter 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 Carter 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.