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.
Seneca County, New York, has about 33,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Seneca County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Seneca 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: Seneca County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Seneca County
The Seneca County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Seneca County. It reported 299 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Seneca County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Waterloo, 4,722 residents: 124 arrests reported for 2025.
- Interlaken, 616 residents: 7 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 Seneca 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.
- Seneca Falls Town: 418 for 2025, 479 for 2024, 298 for 2023, 306 for 2021, 266 for 2020 and 323 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Seneca County Sheriff's Office: 299 for 2025, 238 for 2024, 250 for 2023, 219 for 2022, 167 for 2021 and 184 for 2020.
- Waterloo: 124 for 2025, 150 for 2024, 87 for 2023, 118 for 2022, 111 for 2021 and 87 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Interlaken: 7 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023 and 0 for 2022.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 848 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 848 in 2025 against 867 in 2024, down 2.2 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 412 arrests, against 426 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Seneca County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Seneca 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 63 people on an average day, up from about 60 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 116 beds, and it ran at 51 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 Seneca County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.senecacountyny.gov (page title: Seneca County Sheriff, New York | A New York State Sheriffs' Association Accredited Agency), 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 Seneca County
For Seneca County the place to look is eCourts, the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily), which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Seneca 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 Seneca County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Waterloo or Interlaken: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Cities in Seneca County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Seneca County: Waterloo and Interlaken. Ovid and Lodi have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Seneca Falls Town Police Department as a city agency in Seneca County; Seneca Falls Town is 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 Seneca County Supreme and County Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Seneca County each year?
Seneca Falls Town reported 418 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 848 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Seneca County?
Ask the Seneca County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.senecacountyny.gov.
Where are people arrested in Seneca County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Seneca County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Seneca 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 Seneca County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Seneca 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 Seneca 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.