Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 25, 2026.
Ithaca, New York, in Tompkins County, has about 34,000 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 Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Ithaca public records, Tompkins County arrest records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ithaca
The FBI lists Ithaca with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ithaca Police Department. It reported 940 arrests for 2025. 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 Tompkins County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 438 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Tompkins County: Ithaca College and Cornell University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Ithaca 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.
- Ithaca: 940 for 2025, 952 for 2024, 716 for 2023, 717 for 2022 and 462 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
Ithaca's 940 arrests in 2025 were down 1.3 percent from 952 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Ithaca reported 583 arrests, against 550 in the same months of 2025.
Across Tompkins County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,415 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ithaca Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ithaca 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 54 people on an average day, down from about 54 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 82 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Tompkins County Sheriff's Office at tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/Sheriffs-Office/Corrections-Di... (page title: Corrections Division | Tompkins County), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision lists its inmates at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ithaca
An arrest in Ithaca can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/County-Clerk/Civil-Services); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/District-Attorney, phone (607) 274-5461).
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
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 Ithaca
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Ithaca police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofithacany.gov/m/faq?cat=26#question-210 (page title: FAQs | CivicPlus.CMS.FAQ), phone 607-274-6570, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (607) 274-5461, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Tompkins County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at tompkinscountyny.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
The Tompkins County guide covers every agency in the county: Tompkins County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ithaca each year?
Ithaca reported 940 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ithaca?
Ask the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at tompkinscountyny.gov.
Where are people arrested in Ithaca booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ithaca?
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 Ithaca?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ithaca police for its own arrests, the Tompkins 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 Ithaca 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.