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 25, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Kent, Ohio, in Portage County, has about 28,000 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 Portage 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: Kent public records, Portage County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Kent
The FBI lists Kent with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Kent Police Department. It reported 874 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 Portage County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 69 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Portage County: Kent State University (campus police); the University Hospitals Portage Medical Center (other).
How Many Arrests Kent 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.
- Kent: 874 for 2025, 872 for 2024, 957 for 2023, 1,256 for 2022, 1,181 for 2021 and 1,593 for 2020.
Kent's 874 arrests in 2025 were up 0.2 percent from 872 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Kent reported 637 arrests, against 547 in the same months of 2025.
Across Portage County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,111 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kent Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kent 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 190 people, down from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 362 beds, and it ran at 52 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 Portage County Sheriff's Office at portagecounty-oh.gov/sheriffs-department/pages/corrections-division (page title: Corrections Division | Portage County OH), phone (330) 296-5100, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Kent
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 Kent
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 Kent police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at kentohio.gov/living-here/police-department/police-records-and-repor... (page title: Requesting Reports | City of Kent), phone 330.678.8100, 319 S. Water Street Kent, OH 44240, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Portage County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (330) 296-5100.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Portage County guide covers every agency in the county: Portage County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Kent each year?
Kent reported 874 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Kent booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Portage County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Kent?
The court files of criminal cases in the Portage 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 Kent?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Kent police for its own arrests, the Portage 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 Kent 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.