Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 September 28, 2026.
Dayton, Ohio, in Montgomery County, has about 136,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Dayton public records, Montgomery County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dayton
The FBI lists Dayton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dayton Police Department. It reported 6,325 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,361 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Montgomery County: Sinclair Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Dayton Reports
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.
- Dayton: 6,325 for 2025, 6,314 for 2024, 7,103 for 2023, 6,787 for 2022, 6,079 for 2021 and 5,782 for 2020.
Dayton's 6,325 arrests in 2025 were up 0.2 percent from 6,314 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Dayton reported 3,939 arrests, against 4,208 in the same months of 2025.
Across Montgomery County, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 14,182 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dayton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dayton 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.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 580 people, down from about 800 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 443 beds, and it ran at 131 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at mcsojail.countygovservices.com/Home/CurrentInmates (page title: Current Inmates | Montgomery County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction lists its inmates at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dayton
An arrest in Dayton can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at montgomerycountyauditors.org/clerk-of-courts-search-montgomery-ohio, phone (937) 225-4326); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mcohio.org/740/Prosecutor, phone 937-225-5623).
Ohio does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Dayton
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 Ohio Public Records Act the agency must answer promptly, within a reasonable period of time, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the Dayton police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at daytonohio.gov/230/Police (page title: Police Department | Dayton, OH), phone 937-333-3333, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 937-225-5623, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at montgomerycountyauditors.org, phone (937) 225-4326.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mcohiosheriff.org (page title: Records Requests).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Montgomery County guide covers every agency in the county: Montgomery County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dayton each year?
Dayton reported 6,325 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dayton?
Look on the custody page of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at mcsojail.countygovservices.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Dayton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dayton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Ohio Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Dayton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dayton police for its own arrests, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Ohio Public Records Act the answer is due promptly, within a reasonable period of time; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mcohiosheriff.org.
Is this the official Dayton website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.