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.
Painesville, Ohio, in Lake County, has about 21,000 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 Lake 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: Painesville public records, Lake County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Painesville
The FBI lists Painesville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Painesville Police Department. It reported 561 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 3,888 arrests for 2020.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lake County: Lakeland Community College (campus police); Lake Metroparks (other).
How Many Arrests Painesville 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.
- Painesville: 561 for 2025 and 479 for 2024.
Painesville's 561 arrests in 2025 were up 17 percent from 479 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Painesville reported 415 arrests, against 398 in the same months of 2025.
Across Lake County, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,006 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Painesville Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Painesville 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 290 people, down from about 350 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 429 beds, and it ran at 68 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office at lakecountyohio.gov/sheriff/sheriffs-jail-roster (page title: Sheriff's Jail Roster | Sheriff), 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 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 Painesville
Whether someone was arrested in Painesville, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Lake County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyohio.gov/coc/public-records-requests); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lakecountyohio.gov/lakecountyprosecutor/office-directory-new, phone 440-350-2683).
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 Painesville
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 Painesville police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at painesville.com/police (page title: Police Department | Painesville, OH), phone 440-354-3434, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 440-350-2683, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lake County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at lakecountyohio.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyohio.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Clerk of Courts).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Lake County guide covers every agency in the county: Lake County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Painesville each year?
Painesville reported 561 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Painesville?
Look on the custody page of the Lake County Sheriff's Office at lakecountyohio.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Painesville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Painesville?
The court files of criminal cases in the Lake 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 Painesville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Painesville police for its own arrests, the Lake 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 lakecountyohio.gov.
Is this the official Painesville 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.