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 County, Nebraska, has about 6,700 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kearney County is held at the county jail, run by the Kearney 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 County public records, Kearney County arrest records, Kearney County warrants, Kearney County criminal records, Kearney County court records, Nebraska arrest records and Nebraska inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Kearney County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kearney County is held at the county jail, run by the Kearney County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Kearney County Sheriff's Office at kearneycounty.ne.gov/sheriff-office (page title: Sheriff Office | Kearney County), phone 308-832-2805, 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 308-832-2805.
The Kearney County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 4 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 6 beds, and it ran at 67 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Kearney County has about 6,700 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 6 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Kearney County Jail
The Kearney County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Minden make the arrests that end in a booking in Kearney County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Kearney County: the State Patrol in Kearney County (state police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Kearney County Sheriff's Office's 32 for 2025 and Minden's 16 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Kearney County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 48 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 County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Kearney County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Kearney County?
Ask the Kearney County Sheriff's Office at 308-832-2805; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at kearneycounty.ne.gov/sheriff-office.
How many people are in the Kearney County jail?
About 4 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 6 beds.
What is the phone number for the Kearney County jail?
308-832-2805, the number on the page of the Kearney County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Kearney 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 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.