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.
Richardson County, Nebraska, has about 7,700 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Richardson 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 Richardson 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: Richardson County public records, Nebraska arrest records, Nebraska inmate search and Nebraska criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Richardson County
The Richardson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Richardson County. It reported 122 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Richardson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Falls City, 4,044 residents: 86 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Richardson County: the State Patrol in Richardson County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Richardson County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Richardson County Sheriff's Office: 122 for 2025, 231 for 2024, 271 for 2023, 348 for 2022, 252 for 2021 and 141 for 2020.
- Falls City: 86 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 88 for 2022, 125 for 2021, 151 for 2020 and 213 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 317 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 317 in 2024 against 385 in 2023, down 18 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Richardson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Richardson 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 22 people, up from about 19 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 24 beds, and it ran at 92 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Richardson County Sheriff's Office at richardsoncountysheriffsoffices.com/current-inmates (page title: Current Inmates | RCSO), phone 402-245-2479, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Richardson County
Whether someone was arrested in Richardson County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Richardson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Richardson 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 richardsoncounty.ne.gov/attorney-county, phone 402-245-3222).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at nebraskajudicial.gov/courts/richardson-county-court (page title: Richardson County Court | Nebraska Judicial Branch), phone 402-245-2812, belongs to a lower court, not to the Richardson 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 Richardson 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 Richardson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 402-245-2479.
- An arrest in Falls City: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Patrol in Richardson County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 402-245-3222, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Richardson 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 402-245-2812, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at richardsoncounty.ne.gov (page title: Freedom of Information Request | Richardson County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Richardson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the nine cities in Richardson County: Falls City. Humboldt, Verdon, Shubert, Rulo, Stella, Dawson, Salem and Barada 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 Richardson County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Richardson County each year?
The Richardson County Sheriff's Office reported 122 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Richardson County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 317 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Richardson County?
Look on the custody page of the Richardson County Sheriff's Office at richardsoncountysheriffsoffices.com, or call 402-245-2479. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Richardson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Richardson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Richardson 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 Richardson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Richardson 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 richardsoncounty.ne.gov.
Is this the official Richardson 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.