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 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Kearney, Nebraska, in Buffalo County, has about 35,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kearney is held at the county jail, run by the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Kearney public records, Buffalo County inmate search, Kearney arrest records, Kearney warrants, Kearney criminal records, Kearney court records, Nebraska arrest records and Nebraska inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Kearney
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kearney is held at the county jail, run by the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office at buffalocounty.ne.gov/county-offices/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Buffalo County, NE), phone 308.236.8555, Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 308.236.8555.
The Buffalo County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 140 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 205 beds, and it ran at 69 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Buffalo County has about 51,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 28 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Buffalo County Jail
The Buffalo County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Kearney (filed by the FBI as Kearney Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Kearney.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Buffalo County: the State Patrol in Buffalo County (state police); the University of Nebraska at Kearney (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Kearney's 1,435 for 2025, the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office's 553 for 2025 and Ravenna's 12 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Buffalo County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,000 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Kearney arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services lists its inmates at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/COR_input.jsp.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Kearney?
Ask the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office at 308.236.8555; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at buffalocounty.ne.gov/county-offices/sheriff.
How many people are in the Buffalo County jail?
About 140 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 205 beds.
What is the phone number for the Buffalo County jail?
308.236.8555, the number on the page of the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Buffalo County go?
To a facility of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services; its inmate locator is at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov.
Is this the official Kearney website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.