Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 23, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Hornell, New York, in Steuben County, has about 8,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Steuben County Supreme and County Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Hornell public records, Steuben County arrest records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hornell
The FBI lists Hornell with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hornell Police Department. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Steuben County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 309 arrests for 2025.
Arrest Counts on File for Hornell
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Hornell the counts on file are partial: Hornell has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Across Steuben County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 909 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hornell Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hornell 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 160 people on an average day, up from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 260 beds, and it ran at 59 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 Steuben County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.steubencountyny.gov/inmateSearch (page title: Incarcerated Individuals Search | Steuben County Sheriff, NY), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, whose inmate locator is at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Hornell
An arrest in Hornell can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Steuben County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; eCourts, the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily), which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at steubencountyny.gov/184/District-Attorney, phone 607-664-2270).
New York is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95 a search, through the New York State Office of Court Administration. 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 Hornell
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 Freedom of Information Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the Hornell police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at hornellpd.com (page title: Hornell Police Department | Hornell Police Department), phone (607) 324-2860, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Steuben County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 607-664-2270, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
The Steuben County guide covers every agency in the county: Steuben County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hornell?
Look on the custody page of the Steuben County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.steubencountyny.gov/inmateSearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Hornell booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Steuben County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hornell?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the New York State Office of Court Administration: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Freedom of Information Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Hornell?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hornell police for its own arrests, the Steuben County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Freedom of Information Law the answer is due within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer.
Is this the official Hornell website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.