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 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Saline County, Missouri, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Saline 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 Saline 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: Saline County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Saline County
The Saline County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Saline County. It reported 145 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:
- Marshall, 13,791 residents: 259 arrests reported for 2023.
- Sweet Springs, 1,331 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Emma, 204 residents: 0 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 Saline 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.
- Saline County Sheriff's Office: 145 for 2025, 270 for 2024, 105 for 2023, 151 for 2021, 164 for 2020 and 166 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Sweet Springs: 1 for 2025, 4 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 23 for 2021 and 2 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
- Emma: 0 for 2025 and 0 for 2024.
- Marshall: 259 for 2023, 317 for 2022, 367 for 2021, 364 for 2020 and 398 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 146 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 146 in 2025 against 274 in 2024, down 47 percent.
Marshall reported only part of 2025 (8 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Saline County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Saline 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 58 people, down from about 59 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 65 beds, and it ran at 91 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 Saline County
Whether someone was arrested in Saline County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 salinecountymo.gov/prosecuting-attorney, phone (660) 886-9608).
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 Saline 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 Saline County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Marshall, Sweet Springs or Emma: 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, (660) 886-9608, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Saline County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 12 cities in Saline County: Marshall, Sweet Springs and Emma. Slater, Blackburn, Malta Bend, Gilliam, Nelson, Miami, Mount Leonard, Arrow Rock and Grand Pass 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 Saline County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Saline County each year?
The Saline County Sheriff's Office reported 145 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 146 between them.
Where are people arrested in Saline County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Saline County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Saline 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 Saline County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Saline 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 Saline 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.