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 23, 2026.
Chautauqua County, New York, has about 124,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office, seven city agencies and one campus 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Chautauqua County Supreme and County Courts. 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: Chautauqua County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chautauqua County
The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chautauqua County. It reported 516 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Jamestown, 27,699 residents: 2,046 arrests reported for 2023.
- Dunkirk, 12,379 residents: 258 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fredonia, 9,295 residents: 159 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lakewood, 2,933 residents: 165 arrests reported for 2025.
- Westfield, 2,887 residents: 59 arrests reported for 2025.
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 Chautauqua County: the Fredonia State University of New York Police (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chautauqua 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.
- Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office: 516 for 2025, 545 for 2024, 607 for 2023, 666 for 2022, 630 for 2021 and 1,264 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Dunkirk: 258 for 2025, 285 for 2021, 325 for 2020 and 449 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Ellicott Town: 237 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 124 for 2023, 120 for 2022, 160 for 2021 and 231 for 2020.
- Lakewood: 165 for 2025, 202 for 2024, 228 for 2023, 298 for 2022, 309 for 2021 and 292 for 2020.
- Fredonia: 159 for 2025, 150 for 2024, 174 for 2023, 147 for 2022, 177 for 2021 and 232 for 2020.
- Westfield: 59 for 2025, 72 for 2024, 88 for 2023, 86 for 2022, 125 for 2021 and 110 for 2020.
- Carroll Town: 3 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 11 for 2022, 27 for 2021 and 7 for 2020.
- Jamestown: 2,046 for 2023, 2,068 for 2022, 1,953 for 2021 and 2,501 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,397 arrests that year. The six of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,139 in 2025 against 1,143 in 2024, down 0.3 percent.
Jamestown reported only part of 2025 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chautauqua County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Chautauqua County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 180 people on an average day, down from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 303 beds, and it ran at 55 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 Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.us/corrections (page title: Corrections), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Chautauqua County
An arrest in Chautauqua County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Chautauqua County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at chautauquacountyny.gov/county-clerk/County-Clerk-1, phone (716) 753-4331); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at chautauquacountyny.gov/district-attorney/district-attorney, phone 716-753-4241).
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 Chautauqua County
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 Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Jamestown, Dunkirk, Fredonia, Lakewood or Westfield: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Fredonia State University of New York Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 716-753-4241, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chautauqua County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at chautauquacountyny.gov, phone (716) 753-4331.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Cities in Chautauqua County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 15 cities in Chautauqua County: Jamestown, Dunkirk, Fredonia, Lakewood and Westfield. Silver Creek, Falconer, Mayville, Brocton, Celoron, Sherman, Sinclairville, Cassadaga, Panama and Bemus Point have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Carroll Town Police Department and the Ellicott Town Police Department as city agencies in Chautauqua County; Carroll Town and Ellicott Town are not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Chautauqua County Supreme and County Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Chautauqua County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chautauqua County each year?
The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office reported 516 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,397 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chautauqua County?
Ask the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.us/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Chautauqua County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chautauqua County?
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 Chautauqua County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Chautauqua 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.