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.
Hamilton, Ohio, in Butler County, has about 64,000 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 Butler 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: Hamilton public records, Butler County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hamilton
The FBI lists Hamilton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hamilton Police Department. It reported 1,439 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 Butler County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 452 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Butler County: Miami University (campus police); Butler County Metroparks (other).
How Many Arrests Hamilton Reports
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.
- Hamilton: 1,439 for 2025, 1,782 for 2024, 1,589 for 2023, 1,439 for 2021, 1,523 for 2020 and 1,759 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Hamilton's 1,439 arrests in 2025 were down 19 percent from 1,782 in 2024.
Through April 2026, Hamilton reported 464 arrests, against 420 in the same months of 2025.
Across Butler County, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,118 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hamilton Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hamilton and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 810 people, down from about 1,110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,150 beds, and it ran at 71 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 Butler County Sheriff's Office at butlersheriff.org/jail-facilities (page title: Jail Facilities | Butler County Sheriff’s Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, whose inmate locator is at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Hamilton
Whether someone was arrested in Hamilton, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at docket.bcohio.gov); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at areacourts.bcohio.gov/attorney_services/prosecutors_assigned_to_the..., phone (513)785-5752).
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 Hamilton
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 Hamilton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at hamiltoncountyohio.gov/government/transparency/public_records_reque... (page title: Public Records Requests | Hamilton County, OH), phone 513-946-4458, 138 East Court Street, Room 603, Cincinnati, OH 45202, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Butler County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (513)785-5752, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at docket.bcohio.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bcohio.gov (page title: Butler, OH).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Butler County guide covers every agency in the county: Butler County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hamilton each year?
Hamilton reported 1,439 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hamilton?
Ask the Butler County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at butlersheriff.org/jail-facilities.
Where are people arrested in Hamilton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Butler County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hamilton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Butler 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 Hamilton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hamilton police for its own arrests, the Butler 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 bcohio.gov.
Is this the official Hamilton 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.