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 on September 25, 2026.
Sandusky, Ohio, in Erie County, has about 24,000 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 Erie 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: Sandusky public records, Erie County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Sandusky
The FBI lists Sandusky with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Sandusky Police Department. It reported 1,107 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 Erie County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 379 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Erie County: Erie Metroparks (other).
How Many Arrests Sandusky 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.
- Sandusky: 1,107 for 2025, 1,115 for 2024, 973 for 2023, 888 for 2022, 866 for 2021 and 922 for 2020.
Sandusky's 1,107 arrests in 2025 were down 0.7 percent from 1,115 in 2024.
Across Erie County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,468 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sandusky Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Sandusky 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 110 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 111 beds, and it ran at 113 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Sandusky
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 Sandusky
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 Sandusky police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofsandusky.com/government/department/police/records.php (page title: Welcome to Sandusky, OH), phone 419.627.5797, 222 Meigs Street Sandusky, OH 44870, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Erie County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at auditor.eriecounty.oh.gov (page title: The Erie County Auditor).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Erie County guide covers every agency in the county: Erie County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sandusky each year?
Sandusky reported 1,107 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Sandusky booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Erie County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sandusky?
The court files of criminal cases in the Erie 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 Sandusky?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sandusky police for its own arrests, the Erie 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 auditor.eriecounty.oh.gov.
Is this the official Sandusky 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.