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 25, 2026.
Findlay, Ohio, in Hancock County, has about 40,000 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 Hancock 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: Findlay public records, Hancock County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Findlay
The FBI lists Findlay with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Findlay Police Department. It reported 583 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 Hancock County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 47 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Findlay 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.
- Findlay: 583 for 2025, 667 for 2024, 800 for 2023, 885 for 2022, 800 for 2021 and 813 for 2020.
Findlay's 583 arrests in 2025 were down 13 percent from 667 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Findlay reported 339 arrests, against 390 in the same months of 2025.
Across Hancock County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 630 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Findlay Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Findlay 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 86 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 98 beds, and it ran at 127 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 Hancock County Sheriff's Office at inmates.findlayohio.gov/NewWorld.InmateInquiry/OH0320000 (page title: Hancock County Inmate Search), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Findlay
Whether someone was arrested in Findlay, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Hancock County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.hancock.oh.us/269/Prosecutor, phone 419-424-7889).
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 Findlay
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Findlay police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at findlayohio.gov/government/city-departments/police/records (page title: Records | City of Findlay, OH), phone 419-424-7174, 318 Dorney Plaza, Room 306, Findlay, OH 45840, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 419-424-7889, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Hancock County guide covers every agency in the county: Hancock County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Findlay each year?
Findlay reported 583 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Findlay?
Look on the custody page of the Hancock County Sheriff's Office at inmates.findlayohio.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Findlay booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Findlay?
The court files of criminal cases in the Hancock 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 Findlay?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Findlay police for its own arrests, the Hancock 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.
Is this the official Findlay 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.