Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Tompkins County, New York, has about 106,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A police report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, so which office holds a report from Tompkins County depends on where the incident happened: the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office for the unincorporated county, the agency that reports for the city inside a city. This guide names each agency, where its records page is and what the Freedom of Information Law requires of it.
This guide covers which agency, the sheriff's reports, the cities' reports, how many reports, what the law requires and common questions.
Related guides: Tompkins County public records, Tompkins County arrest records, Tompkins County warrants, Tompkins County inmate search, Tompkins County criminal records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Which Agency Holds a Report from Tompkins County
The report of an incident is released by the agency that took it; the court and the jail hold their own records of the same event, but not the report.
In Tompkins County that is the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office for the unincorporated county and for any city that contracts with it for police service, and the agency that reports for a city where the city has one of its own.
The FBI's list also carries Ithaca College and Cornell University (campus police), each with a records office of its own.
Reports from the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office
The Tompkins County Sheriff's Office is the county agency; it had 33 violent and 217 property crimes reported for 2025 and reported 438 arrests for 2025.
Its reports come from its records unit. The office's page SearchSystems verified is its jail page, 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.
Reports from the City Agencies in Tompkins County
The five cities the FBI lists in Tompkins County with a reporting agency of their own:
- Ithaca: 59 violent and 998 property crimes reported for 2025; 940 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cayuga Heights: 1 violent and 8 property crimes reported for 2025; 3 arrests reported for 2025.
- Groton: 0 violent and 13 property crimes reported for 2025; 26 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dryden: 18 arrests reported for 2024.
- Trumansburg: 1 violent and 15 property crimes reported for 2025; 8 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 Reports: Tompkins County in 2025
The five agencies in Tompkins County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 94 violent and 1,251 property crimes to the FBI that year, each one a report taken by the agency that holds it.
Together, the five agencies in Tompkins County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,415 arrests to the FBI that year, and each arrest is a report of its own.
What the Freedom of Information Law Requires
The Freedom of Information Law sets the rules: an answer within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer, at a charge of copying at 25 cents a page, from the agency that holds the report.
A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (607) 274-5461, handles discovery for pending cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a police report in Tompkins County?
From the agency whose officer took it: the Tompkins 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.
How long does an agency in Tompkins County have to answer?
Under the Freedom of Information Law, within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer. It may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
How do I get a report from the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office?
From its records unit. 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 Tompkins 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.