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 27, 2026.
Port Clinton, Ohio, in Ottawa County, has about 5,900 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 Ottawa 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: Port Clinton public records, Ottawa County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Port Clinton
The FBI lists Port Clinton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Port Clinton Police Department. It reported 144 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency.
How Many Arrests Port Clinton 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.
- Port Clinton: 144 for 2025, 161 for 2024, 156 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 146 for 2021 and 168 for 2020.
Port Clinton's 144 arrests in 2025 were down 11 percent from 161 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Port Clinton reported 123 arrests, against 115 in the same months of 2025.
Across Ottawa County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 3,695 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Port Clinton Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Port Clinton 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 2023 the jail held about 73 people, down from about 96 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 87 beds, and it ran at 84 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at ottawacountysheriff.info (page title: Ottawa County Sheriff's Office | Sheriff Stephen J. Levorchick), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Port Clinton
An arrest in Port Clinton can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas, kept by the Clerk of Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.ottawa.oh.us/271/Prosecutors-Office, phone 419-734-6845).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at ottawacocpcourt.com/record-search (page title: Record Search | Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas), phone (419) 734-6790, belongs to a lower court, not to the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas.
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 Port Clinton
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 Port Clinton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at portclintonpd.org/offices/records (page title: Records | Port Clinton Police Department), phone 419-734-3121, Monday-Friday 08:00am-4:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 419-734-6845, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at ottawacocpcourt.com/record-search, phone (419) 734-6790, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Ottawa County guide covers every agency in the county: Ottawa County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Port Clinton each year?
Port Clinton reported 144 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Port Clinton?
Ask the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ottawacountysheriff.info.
Where are people arrested in Port Clinton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Port Clinton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Ottawa 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 Port Clinton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Port Clinton police for its own arrests, the Ottawa 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 Port Clinton 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.