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 4, 2026.
Clay County, Missouri, has about 263,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Clay County is held at the county jail, run by the Clay 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: Clay County public records, Clay County arrest records, Clay County warrants, Clay County police reports, Clay County property records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Clay County
The county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Clay County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Clay County Sheriff's Office at sheriffclayco.org/how-do-i/find-out-if-someone-is-in-jail (page title: How Do I Find If Someone is in Jail? | Clay County Sheriff's Office), phone 816-407-3800, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 816-407-3800.
The Clay County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 180 people, down from about 340 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 380 beds, and it ran at 47 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Clay County has about 263,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 7 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Clay County Jail
The Clay County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Liberty, Gladstone, Kearney, Smithville, Excelsior Springs, North Kansas City and three more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Clay County.
The Lawson Police Department and the Kansas City Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Clay County, so their arrests are not broken out for Clay County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Clay County Sheriff's Office's 1,626 for 2025, Gladstone's 1,412 for 2025 and Excelsior Springs's 500 for 2025.
Together, the eight agencies in Clay County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,274 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 Clay 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 Clay County?
Ask the Clay County Sheriff's Office at 816-407-3800; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriffclayco.org.
How many people are in the Clay County jail?
About 180 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 380 beds.
What is the phone number for the Clay County jail?
816-407-3800, the number on the page of the Clay County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Clay 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 Clay 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.