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.
Dawson County, Nebraska, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dawson County is held at the county jail, run by the Dawson 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: Dawson County public records, Dawson County arrest records, Dawson County warrants, Dawson County criminal records, Dawson County court records, Nebraska arrest records and Nebraska inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dawson County
The county jail, run by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Dawson County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Dawson County Sheriff's Office at dawsoncountyne.gov/administrative/sheriff/index.php (page title: Dawson County), phone (308) 324-3011, 709 N. Grant Street Lexington, NE 68850, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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) 324-3011.
The Dawson County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 94 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 117 beds, and it ran at 80 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Dawson County has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 38 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Dawson County Jail
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Lexington, Cozad and Gothenburg make the arrests that end in a booking in Dawson County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Dawson County: the State Patrol in Dawson County (state police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Lexington's 381 for 2025, the Dawson County Sheriff's Office's 175 for 2025 and Cozad's 71 for 2025.
Together, the four agencies in Dawson County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 643 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 Dawson County 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 Dawson County?
Ask the Dawson County Sheriff's Office at (308) 324-3011; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dawsoncountyne.gov.
How many people are in the Dawson County jail?
About 94 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 117 beds.
What is the phone number for the Dawson County jail?
(308) 324-3011, the number on the page of the Dawson County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Dawson 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 Dawson 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.