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.
Mississippi County, Missouri, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Mississippi 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: Mississippi County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mississippi County
The Mississippi County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mississippi County. It reported 53 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Charleston, 4,447 residents: 83 arrests reported for 2025.
- East Prairie, 2,859 residents: 10 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bertrand, 704 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Mississippi County
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.
- Charleston: 83 for 2025, 63 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 72 for 2022, 125 for 2021 and 131 for 2020.
- Mississippi County Sheriff's Office: 53 for 2025, 75 for 2024, 98 for 2023, 180 for 2022, 165 for 2021 and 96 for 2020.
- East Prairie: 10 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 44 for 2022 and 49 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- Bertrand: 1 for 2025, 0 for 2023, 3 for 2022, 1 for 2021, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 147 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 146 in 2025 against 148 in 2024, down 1.4 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mississippi County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mississippi 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 73 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 130 beds, and it ran at 56 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office at misscomo.net/services/sheriff.php (page title: Welcome to Mississippi County), 200 W Commercial St. Charleston, MO 63834, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Mississippi County
An arrest in Mississippi 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 misscomo.net/services/prosecuting_attorney.php, phone (573) 683-2540).
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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Charleston, East Prairie or Bertrand: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (573) 683-2540, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at nfoic.org/mississippi-sample-foia-request (page title: Mississippi Sample FOIA Request | National Freedom of Information Coalition).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Mississippi County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the six cities in Mississippi County: Charleston, East Prairie and Bertrand. Wyatt, Anniston and Wilson City 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 Mississippi County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mississippi County each year?
Charleston reported 83 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 147 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mississippi County?
Ask the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at misscomo.net/services/sheriff.php.
Where are people arrested in Mississippi County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mississippi 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 Mississippi County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mississippi 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 nfoic.org/mississippi-sample-foia-request.
Is this the official Mississippi 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.