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.
Kent, Ohio, in Portage County, has about 28,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kent is held at the county jail, run by the Portage County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Kent public records, Portage County inmate search, Kent arrest records, Kent warrants, Kent criminal records, Kent court records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Kent
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kent is held at the county jail, run by the Portage County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
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.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at (330) 296-5100.
The Portage County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Portage County has about 164,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 11 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Portage County Jail
The Portage County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Kent (filed by the FBI as Kent Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Kent.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Portage County: Kent State University (campus police); the University Hospitals Portage Medical Center (other agency).
The Mogadore Police Department and the Tallmadge Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Portage County, so their arrests are not broken out for Portage County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Kent's 874 for 2025, Ravenna's 463 for 2025 and Streetsboro's 425 for 2025.
Together, the six agencies in Portage County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,111 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Kent arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Portage County serves the sentence in a facility of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, whose inmate locator is at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Kent?
Ask the Portage County Sheriff's Office at (330) 296-5100; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at portagecounty-oh.gov.
How many people are in the Portage County jail?
About 190 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 362 beds.
What is the phone number for the Portage County jail?
(330) 296-5100, the number on the page of the Portage County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Portage County go?
To a facility of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; its inmate locator is at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
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.