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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
New Madrid County, Missouri, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the New Madrid County Sheriff's Office and nine 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 New Madrid 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: New Madrid County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in New Madrid County
The New Madrid County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for New Madrid County. It reported 125 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside nine 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:
- Portageville, 2,723 residents: 77 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Madrid, 2,597 residents: 69 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lilbourn, 913 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
- Gideon, 718 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
- Morehouse, 685 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2020.
- Matthews, 501 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2024.
- Marston, 365 residents.
- Howardville, 254 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- Canalou, 147 residents: 0 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 Sikeston Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including New Madrid County, so its arrests are not broken out for New Madrid County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in New Madrid 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.
- New Madrid County Sheriff's Office: 125 for 2025, 87 for 2022, 135 for 2021 and 51 for 2020; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Portageville: 77 for 2025, 72 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 26 for 2022, 5 for 2021 and 7 for 2020.
- New Madrid: 69 for 2025, 65 for 2024, 81 for 2023, 50 for 2022, 76 for 2021 and 64 for 2020.
- Gideon: 9 for 2025, 8 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 21 for 2021, 12 for 2020 and 24 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Matthews: 13 for 2024, 6 for 2023, 42 for 2022, 22 for 2021, 50 for 2020 and 4 for 2019.
- Morehouse: 6 for 2020 and 22 for 2019.
- Lilbourn: 0 for 2019.
- Canalou: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
- Howardville: 0 for 2020 and 2 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 280 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 146 in 2025 against 137 in 2024, up 6.6 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 114 arrests, against 120 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in New Madrid County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in New Madrid 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.
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 New Madrid County
An arrest in New Madrid 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 newmadridcountymo.gov/prosecutor).
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 New Madrid 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 New Madrid County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Portageville, New Madrid, Lilbourn, Gideon, Morehouse, Matthews or another of the cities listed above: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in New Madrid County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for nine of the 14 cities in New Madrid County: Portageville, New Madrid, Lilbourn, Gideon, Morehouse, Matthews, Marston, Howardville and Canalou. Parma, Risco, Tallapoosa, Catron and North Lilbourn 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 New Madrid County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in New Madrid County each year?
The New Madrid County Sheriff's Office reported 125 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 280 between them.
Where are people arrested in New Madrid County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the New Madrid County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in New Madrid 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 New Madrid County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the New Madrid 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 New Madrid 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.