SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Niagara County, New York, has about 210,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office and eight city agencies. 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 Niagara 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: Niagara County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Niagara County

The Niagara County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Niagara County. It reported 597 arrests for 2025.

Arrests inside six 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:

  • Niagara Falls, 47,512 residents: 1,151 arrests reported for 2025.
  • North Tonawanda, 29,981 residents: 596 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lockport, 20,394 residents: 512 arrests reported for 2020.
  • Lewiston, 2,497 residents: 139 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Youngstown, 1,829 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Middleport, 1,688 residents: 16 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.

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Niagara 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.

  • Niagara Falls: 1,151 for 2025, 1,488 for 2024, 1,520 for 2023, 1,234 for 2022 and 1,269 for 2021.
  • Niagara County Sheriff's Office: 597 for 2025, 694 for 2024, 587 for 2023, 514 for 2022, 631 for 2021 and 442 for 2020.
  • North Tonawanda: 596 for 2025, 592 for 2024, 586 for 2023, 573 for 2022, 602 for 2021 and 441 for 2020.
  • Niagara Town: 325 for 2025, 255 for 2024, 213 for 2023, 143 for 2022, 124 for 2021 and 125 for 2020.
  • Lewiston: 139 for 2025, 122 for 2024, 124 for 2023, 108 for 2022, 111 for 2021 and 57 for 2020.
  • Middleport: 16 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 98 for 2023, 49 for 2022, 60 for 2020 and 214 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Somerset Town: 6 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 5 for 2023, 8 for 2022, 10 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
  • Youngstown: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 2 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
  • Lockport: 512 for 2020.

Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,830 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,830 in 2025 against 3,156 in 2024, down 10 percent.

Through May 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 956 arrests, against 1,014 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Niagara County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Niagara 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 400 people on an average day, up from about 350 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 505 beds, and it ran at 69 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 Niagara County Sheriff's Office at niagarasheriff.gov (page title: Niagara County Sheriff's Office), 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 Niagara County

An arrest in Niagara County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Niagara County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at niagaracounty.gov/departments/a-f/county_clerk/index.php, phone 716-439-7022); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at niagaracounty.gov/departments/a-f/district_attorney/index.php, phone (716) 439-7085).

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 Niagara 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 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 Niagara County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Lockport, Lewiston, Youngstown or Middleport: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (716) 439-7085, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Niagara County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at niagaracounty.gov, phone 716-439-7022.
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Cities in Niagara County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the eight cities in Niagara County: Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Lockport, Lewiston, Youngstown and Middleport. Wilson and Barker have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Niagara Town Police Department and the Somerset Town Police Department as city agencies in Niagara County; Niagara Town and Somerset 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 Niagara County Supreme and County Courts.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Niagara 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 Niagara County each year?

Niagara Falls reported 1,151 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,830 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Niagara County?

Ask the Niagara County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at niagarasheriff.gov.

Where are people arrested in Niagara County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Niagara 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 Niagara County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Niagara 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 Niagara 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.