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 on September 24, 2026.
Red Willow County, Nebraska, has about 10,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Red Willow County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Red Willow 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: Red Willow County public records, Nebraska arrest records, Nebraska inmate search and Nebraska criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Red Willow County
The Red Willow County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Red Willow County. It reported 4 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Red Willow County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- McCook, 7,212 residents: 327 arrests reported for 2021.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Red Willow County: the State Patrol in Red Willow County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Red Willow County
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.
- McCook: 327 for 2021, 360 for 2020 and 398 for 2019.
- Red Willow County Sheriff's Office: 4 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 12 for 2020 and 22 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2020 on file reported 372 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2020 and 2019 complete reported 372 in 2020 against 420 in 2019, down 11 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Red Willow County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Red Willow 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 2023 the jail held about 19 people, down from about 20 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 30 beds, and it ran at 63 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 Red Willow County Sheriff's Office at redwillowcountyne.gov/sheriff-office (page title: Sheriff Office | Red Willow County), phone (308) 345-1850, 516 Norris Ave McCook, NE 69001, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Red Willow County
An arrest in Red Willow County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Red Willow 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 redwillowcountyne.gov/attorney-county, phone 308-345-7905).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at nebraskajudicial.gov/courts/red-willow-county-court (page title: Red Willow County Court | Nebraska Judicial Branch), phone 308-345-1904, belongs to a lower court, not to the Red Willow 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 Red Willow County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Red Willow County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (308) 345-1850.
- An arrest in McCook: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Patrol in Red Willow County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 308-345-7905, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Red Willow 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 308-345-1904, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at redwillowcountyne.gov (page title: Freedom of Information Request | Red Willow County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Red Willow County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Red Willow County: McCook. Indianola, Bartley, Danbury and Lebanon have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Red Willow County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Red Willow County each year?
McCook reported 327 arrests to the FBI for 2021. For 2020, the latest year most of the agencies in Red Willow County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 372 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Red Willow County?
Ask the Red Willow County Sheriff's Office at (308) 345-1850; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at redwillowcountyne.gov/sheriff-office.
Where are people arrested in Red Willow County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Red Willow County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Red Willow 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 Red Willow County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Red Willow 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at redwillowcountyne.gov.
Is this the official Red Willow 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.