Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Lafayette County, Missouri, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Missouri the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services Division is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Lafayette County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Lafayette County public records, Lafayette County arrest records, Lafayette County warrants, Lafayette County inmate search, Lafayette County court records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Lafayette County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Lafayette County is filed in the Lafayette County Circuit Court, and the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at lafayettecountymo.gov/services/court.php (page title: Lafayette County, Missouri), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
The Missouri Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Lafayette County
The Lafayette County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Odessa, Higginsville, Lexington, Concordia, Waverly, Wellington and five more cities keep the arrest records in Lafayette County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The Emma Police Department and the Oak Grove Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Lafayette County, so their arrests are not broken out for Lafayette County here.
Together, the nine agencies in Lafayette County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 157 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Lafayette County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Lafayette County in 2025
The ten agencies in Lafayette County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 66 violent and 167 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 233 crimes in 2025 against 224 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Lafayette County public records guide.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Lafayette County
Charges in Lafayette County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Lafayette County Circuit Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at lafayettecountymo.gov/services/prosecuting_attorney/index.php (page title: Lafayette County, Missouri), phone 660-259-6181, 116 S. 10th St. PO Box 70 Lexington, MO 64067, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Lafayette County
Registered sex offenders living in Lafayette County are listed on the Missouri Sex Offender Registry, run by the Missouri State Highway Patrol at mshp.dps.missouri.gov/CJ38/searchRegistry.jsp. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Lafayette County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Missouri Sunshine Law a county office must answer a request within 3 business days, and it may charge research time and copying. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lafayettecountymo.gov/how_do_i/open_records_request.php (page title: Missouri Sunshine Law and Public Record Requests).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Lafayette County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Lafayette County and Missouri. These criminal records pages from its Lafayette County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Missouri, Sex Offender Registry Resources (mshp.dps.mo.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Lafayette 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.
Can I search Lafayette County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at lafayettecountymo.gov/services/court.php (page title: Lafayette County, Missouri). Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Missouri criminal history?
Through the same name-based search, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Lafayette County?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 660-259-6181, which files its cases in the Lafayette County Circuit Court.
Is this the official Lafayette 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.