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 between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Yates County, New York, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Yates County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Yates 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: Yates County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Yates County
The Yates County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Yates County. It reported 114 arrests for 2025.
One city in Yates County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Penn Yan, 5,024 residents: 195 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 Yates 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.
- Penn Yan: 195 for 2025, 280 for 2020 and 334 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Yates County Sheriff's Office: 114 for 2025, 119 for 2024, 126 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 170 for 2020 and 385 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 309 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 114 in 2025 against 119 in 2024, down 4.2 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Yates County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Yates 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 35 people on an average day, down from about 43 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 65 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 Yates County Sheriff's Office at yatescountyny.gov/quicklinks.aspx?CID=32 (page title: Quick Links, Sheriff), phone 315-536-5100, 417 Liberty Street, Penn Yan, NY 14527, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 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 Yates County
Whether someone was arrested in Yates County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Yates County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at yatescountyny.gov/160/County-Clerk, phone (315) 536-5120); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at yatescountyny.gov/183/District-Attorney, phone 315-536-5550).
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 Yates 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 Yates County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 315-536-5100.
- An arrest in Penn Yan: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 315-536-5550, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Yates County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at yatescountyny.gov/160/County-Clerk, phone (315) 536-5120.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Cities in Yates County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Yates County: Penn Yan. Dundee, Rushville and Dresden have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Yates County Supreme and County Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Yates County each year?
Penn Yan reported 195 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 309 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Yates County?
Ask the Yates County Sheriff's Office at 315-536-5100; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at yatescountyny.gov/quicklinks.aspx?CID=32.
Where are people arrested in Yates County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Yates County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Yates 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 Yates County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Yates 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 Yates 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.