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 October 9, 2026.
Jefferson County, Nebraska, has about 7,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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: Jefferson County public records, Nebraska arrest records, Nebraska inmate search and Nebraska criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson County. It reported 94 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Jefferson County: the State Patrol in Jefferson County (state police).
How Many Arrests The Jefferson 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.
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 94 for 2023, 106 for 2022, 145 for 2021, 174 for 2020 and 223 for 2019.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office's 94 arrests in 2023 were down 11 percent from 106 in 2022.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jefferson 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 2020 the jail held about 13 people, down from about 16 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 14 beds, and it ran at 114 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at jeffersoncounty.nebraska.gov/jefferson-county-sheriff (page title: Jefferson County Sheriff | Jefferson County), phone (402)729-2284, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, whose inmate locator is at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/COR_input.jsp.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Jefferson County
Whether someone was arrested in Jefferson County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Jefferson County District Court, kept by the Clerk of the District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffersoncounty.nebraska.gov/jefferson-county-attorney, phone (402) 729-6813).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at nebraskajudicial.gov/courts/jefferson-county-court (page title: Jefferson County Court | Nebraska Judicial Branch), phone 402-729-6801, belongs to a lower court, not to the Jefferson County District Court.
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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (402)729-2284.
- An arrest by the State Patrol in Jefferson County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (402) 729-6813, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Jefferson County District Court it is kept by the Clerk of the District Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at nebraskajudicial.gov, phone 402-729-6801, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Jefferson County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI and property records.
Cities in Jefferson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson County each year?
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office reported 94 arrests to the FBI for 2023, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jefferson County?
Ask the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at (402)729-2284; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncounty.nebraska.gov.
Where are people arrested in Jefferson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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.