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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Howard County, Nebraska, has about 6,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Howard County Sheriff's Office and one state agency. 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 County Attorney files charges, a case in the Howard County District 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: Howard County public records, Nebraska arrest records, Nebraska inmate search and Nebraska criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Howard County
The Howard County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Howard County. It reported 24 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Howard County: the State Patrol in Howard County (state police).
How Many Arrests The Howard County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Howard County Sheriff's Office: 24 for 2025 and 11 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Through August 2026, Howard County Sheriff's Office reported 7 arrests, against 16 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Howard County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Howard 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.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services lists its inmates at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/COR_input.jsp.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Howard County
Whether someone was arrested in Howard County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Howard County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at nebraskajudicial.gov/e-services/case-information-eservices); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at howardcounty.ne.gov/attorney-county, phone (308) 754-4075).
Statewide, Nebraska Trial Court Case Search is the Nebraska Judicial Branch's statewide case search, with a fee per search.
Nebraska is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Patrol sells name-based criminal history checks to anyone online, through the Nebraska State Patrol. 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 Howard 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 Nebraska Public Records Statutes the agency must answer within 4 business days, and it may charge copying, and staff time after the first four hours.
- An arrest by the Howard County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by the State Patrol in Howard County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (308) 754-4075, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Howard County District Court, through the court records page at nebraskajudicial.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Howard County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Howard County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Howard County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Howard County each year?
The Howard County Sheriff's Office reported 24 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Howard County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Howard County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Howard County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Nebraska State Patrol: the Patrol sells name-based criminal history checks to anyone online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Nebraska Public Records Statutes.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Howard County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Howard County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Nebraska Public Records Statutes the answer is due within 4 business days.
Is this the official Howard 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.