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.
Lawrence County, Missouri, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Lawrence 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: Lawrence County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lawrence County
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lawrence County. It reported 146 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Lawrence County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Aurora, 7,573 residents: 213 arrests reported for 2023.
- Mount Vernon, 4,703 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2025.
- Marionville, 2,090 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pierce City, 1,272 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Verona, 512 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Monett Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Lawrence County, so its arrests are not broken out for Lawrence County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lawrence 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.
- Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: 146 for 2025, 156 for 2024, 199 for 2023, 154 for 2022, 118 for 2021 and 130 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Marionville: 13 for 2025, 13 for 2024, 28 for 2022, 6 for 2021, 35 for 2020 and 37 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Mount Vernon: 13 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 41 for 2022, 42 for 2021 and 158 for 2020.
- Pierce City: 0 for 2025, 6 for 2024 and 34 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Aurora: 213 for 2023, 221 for 2022, 185 for 2021, 257 for 2020 and 307 for 2019.
- Verona: 13 for 2020 and 15 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 172 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 172 in 2025 against 192 in 2024, down 10 percent.
Aurora reported only part of 2025 (3 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lawrence County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lawrence County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 80 people, up from about 44 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 60 beds, and it ran at 73 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Lawrence County
For Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Aurora, Mount Vernon, Marionville, Pierce City or Verona: 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 Lawrence County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the ten cities in Lawrence County: Aurora, Mount Vernon, Marionville, Pierce City and Verona. Miller, Freistatt, Stotts City, Halltown and Hoberg 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 Lawrence County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lawrence County each year?
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office reported 146 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 172 between them.
Where are people arrested in Lawrence County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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.