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 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Mercer County, Missouri, has about 3,500 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office. 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 Mercer 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: Mercer County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mercer County
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mercer County. It reported 2 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
How Many Arrests The Mercer County Sheriff's Office Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Mercer County Sheriff's Office: 2 for 2024, 6 for 2022 and 17 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mercer County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mercer 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 2019 the jail held about 4 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 14 beds, and it ran at 29 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 Mercer County
An arrest in Mercer County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Case.net, the Missouri courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at courtrecord.net/mercer-county-mo-district-attorneys, phone 660-748-3332).
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 Mercer County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Mercer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 660-748-3332, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Mercer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Mercer County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Mercer County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mercer County each year?
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office reported 2 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Mercer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mercer 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 Mercer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mercer 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 Mercer 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.