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 on September 23, 2026.
Scott County, Missouri, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Scott County Sheriff's Office and eight 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 Scott 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: Scott County public records, Missouri arrest records, Missouri inmate search and Missouri criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Scott County
The Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Scott County. It reported 235 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside eight 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:
- Sikeston, 16,062 residents: 610 arrests reported for 2025.
- Scott City, 4,432 residents: 57 arrests reported for 2024.
- Chaffee, 3,017 residents: 10 arrests reported for 2025.
- Oran, 1,205 residents: 1,177 arrests reported for 2025.
- Benton, 911 residents.
- Miner, 893 residents: 16 arrests reported for 2025.
- Morley, 674 residents.
- Kelso, 553 residents.
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 Scott 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.
- Oran: 1,177 for 2025, 1,175 for 2024, 1,176 for 2023, 1,170 for 2022, 1,145 for 2021 and 1,167 for 2020.
- Sikeston: 610 for 2025, 793 for 2023, 731 for 2022, 864 for 2021, 1,025 for 2020 and 1,980 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Scott County Sheriff's Office: 235 for 2025.
- Miner: 16 for 2025, 44 for 2023, 39 for 2022, 58 for 2021 and 1 for 2020; 2024 is missing months.
- Chaffee: 10 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 6 for 2023, 25 for 2021, 84 for 2020 and 113 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Scott City: 57 for 2024, 108 for 2023, 86 for 2022, 106 for 2021, 195 for 2020 and 239 for 2019.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,048 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,187 in 2025 against 1,178 in 2024, up 0.8 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,133 arrests, against 1,005 in the same months of 2025.
Kelso, Scott City and Benton reported only part of 2025 (1 month, 10 months and 4 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Scott County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Scott 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 110 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 163 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 Scott County
An arrest in Scott County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Scott County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountymo.com/circuit.php, phone 573-545-3596); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at scottcountymo.com/prosecutor.php, phone 573-545-3562).
Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
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 Scott 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sikeston, Scott City, Chaffee, Oran, Benton, Miner 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, 573-545-3562, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Scott County Circuit Court, through the court records page at scottcountymo.com/circuit.php, phone 573-545-3596.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Scott County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the 13 cities in Scott County: Sikeston, Scott City, Chaffee, Oran, Benton, Miner, Morley and Kelso. Blodgett, Vanduser, Diehlstadt, Haywood City and Commerce 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 Scott County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Scott County each year?
Oran reported 1,177 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,048 between them.
Where are people arrested in Scott County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Scott 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 Scott County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Scott 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 Scott 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.