Reviewed and updated October 11, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 25, 2026 and October 11, 2026.
Sandusky, Ohio, in Erie County, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Ohio the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Courts; the statewide criminal history kept by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Sandusky is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Sandusky public records, Erie County criminal records, Sandusky arrest records, Sandusky warrants, Sandusky inmate search, Sandusky court records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas
In Ohio the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Sandusky are heard by the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, which hears felonies, civil cases over $15,000, divorces, probate and juvenile matters, each in its own division; the Municipal and County Courts take misdemeanors, traffic cases, evictions and civil cases up to $15,000; mayor's courts handle some village tickets, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of Courts.
For Erie County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at eriecounty.oh.gov/ClerkofCourts.aspx (page title: Clerk of Courts Office), phone (419) 627-7625, MONDAY-FRIDAY 8:00AM-4:00PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 11, 2026.
Ohio has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Ohio Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is closed to the public in Ohio: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Individuals-and-Families/Consumers/Requesti....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Sandusky
The Erie County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Sandusky (filed by the FBI as Sandusky Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Sandusky: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Erie County: Erie Metroparks (other agency); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Vermilion Police Department and the Bellevue Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Erie County, so their arrests are not broken out for Erie County here.
Together, the six agencies in Erie County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,468 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Sandusky arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Sandusky in 2025
The agency that reports for Sandusky had 49 violent and 442 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Erie County
Charges in Erie County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas or the Municipal and County Courts.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at eriecounty.oh.gov/protected/GeneralError.aspx (page title: An Error Has Occurred!), phone 800-770-0192, 196 E. State St., Ste. 200, Columbus, OH 43215, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 11, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Sandusky
Registered sex offenders living in Sandusky are listed on eSORN, run by the Ohio Attorney General at icrimewatch.net/index.php?AgencyID=55149. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff registers them.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Erie County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Ohio Public Records Act a county office must answer a request promptly, within a reasonable period of time, and it may charge the actual cost of copying. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at auditor.eriecounty.oh.gov/request-public-records (page title: The Erie County Auditor).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Sandusky criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at eriecounty.oh.gov/ClerkofCourts.aspx (page title: Clerk of Courts Office).
How do I get my own Ohio criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Who prosecutes crimes in Sandusky?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 800-770-0192, which files its cases in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas or the Municipal and County Courts.
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.