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 26, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Lincoln, Nebraska, in Lancaster County, has about 301,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lincoln is held at the county jail, run by the Lancaster 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: Lincoln public records, Lancaster County inmate search, Lincoln arrest records, Lincoln warrants, Lincoln criminal records, Lincoln court records, Nebraska arrest records and Nebraska inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Lincoln
The county jail, run by the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Lincoln, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office at lancaster.ne.gov/1380/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Lancaster County, NE), phone (402) 441-6500, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 (402) 441-6500.
The Lancaster County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 710 people, up from about 630 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 786 beds, and it ran at 90 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Lancaster County has about 333,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 21 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Lancaster County Jail
The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Lincoln (filed by the FBI as Lincoln Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Lincoln.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lancaster County: the Nebraska State Fire Marshal (state agency); the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (campus police); the State Patrol in Lancaster County (state police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Lincoln's 12,335 for 2025 and the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office's 564 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Lancaster County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,899 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln?
Ask the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office at (402) 441-6500; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lancaster.ne.gov/1380/Sheriffs-Office.
How many people are in the Lancaster County jail?
About 710 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 786 beds.
What is the phone number for the Lancaster County jail?
(402) 441-6500, the number on the page of the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Lancaster 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 Lincoln 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.