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 on September 23, 2026.
Jefferson County, Missouri, has about 232,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, nine city agencies and two campus, state or other 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 Jefferson 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: Jefferson County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson County. It reported 1,731 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists nine cities in Jefferson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Arnold, 21,036 residents: 454 arrests reported for 2023.
- Festus, 13,730 residents: 339 arrests reported for 2024.
- De Soto, 6,503 residents: 400 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pevely, 6,103 residents: 195 arrests reported for 2025.
- Herculaneum, 5,321 residents: 53 arrests reported for 2025.
- Crystal City, 4,703 residents: 83 arrests reported for 2022.
- Hillsboro, 3,489 residents: 56 arrests reported for 2025.
- Byrnes Mill, 3,189 residents: 141 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kimmswick, 131 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2024.
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.
The Eureka Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Jefferson County, so its arrests are not broken out for Jefferson County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Jefferson County: Jefferson College (campus police); the Dunklin R-5 School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jefferson 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.
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 1,731 for 2025, 1,397 for 2024, 1,584 for 2023, 1,338 for 2022, 1,438 for 2021 and 2,320 for 2020.
- De Soto: 400 for 2025, 374 for 2024 and 314 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Pevely: 195 for 2025, 175 for 2024, 113 for 2023, 218 for 2022, 239 for 2021 and 277 for 2020.
- Byrnes Mill: 141 for 2025, 137 for 2024, 152 for 2023, 140 for 2022, 55 for 2021 and 137 for 2020.
- Hillsboro: 56 for 2025, 77 for 2024, 93 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 99 for 2021 and 122 for 2020.
- Herculaneum: 53 for 2025, 46 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 47 for 2022, 91 for 2021 and 141 for 2020.
- Arnold: 454 for 2023, 550 for 2022, 703 for 2021 and 1,453 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Festus: 339 for 2024, 453 for 2023, 265 for 2021, 295 for 2020 and 733 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Crystal City: 83 for 2022, 177 for 2021 and 841 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Kimmswick: 0 for 2024 and 0 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,576 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,576 in 2025 against 2,206 in 2024, up 17 percent.
Through August 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,912 arrests, against 1,238 in the same months of 2025.
Festus, Crystal City, Kimmswick and Arnold reported only part of 2025 (9 months, 10 months, 11 months and 8 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Jefferson 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.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 320 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 371 beds, and it ran at 86 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Missouri Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Jefferson County
An arrest in Jefferson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at jeffcomo.gov/670/Circuit-Court, phone (636) 797-6069); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffcomo.gov/230/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 636-797-5321).
Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Arnold, Festus, De Soto, Pevely, Herculaneum, Crystal City or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Jefferson College or the Dunklin R-5 School District: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 636-797-5321, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jefferson County Circuit Court, through the court records page at jeffcomo.gov/670/Circuit-Court, phone (636) 797-6069.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffcomo.gov/719/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Jefferson County, MO).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Jefferson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for nine of the 15 cities in Jefferson County: Arnold, Festus, De Soto, Pevely, Herculaneum, Crystal City, Hillsboro, Byrnes Mill and Kimmswick. Olympian Village, Lake Tekakwitha, Cedar Hill Lakes, Scotsdale, Parkdale and Peaceful Village have 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 Jefferson County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jefferson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Arnold (21,036)
- Festus (13,730)
- Herculaneum (5,321)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson County each year?
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office reported 1,731 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,576 between them.
Where are people arrested in Jefferson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffcomo.gov/719/Public-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Jefferson 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.