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 September 25, 2026.
Westerville, Ohio, in Franklin County, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Westerville is held at the county jail, run by the Franklin 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: Westerville public records, Franklin County inmate search, Westerville arrest records, Westerville warrants, Westerville criminal records, Westerville court records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Westerville
The county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Westerville, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.franklincountyohio.gov/Services/Inmate-Information (page title: Inmate Information | Franklin County Sheriff’s Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone 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.
The Franklin County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 1,660 people, down from about 2,120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,883 beds, and it ran at 88 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Franklin County has about 1.4 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 12 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Franklin County Jail
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Westerville (filed by the FBI as Westerville Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Westerville.
The FBI's agency list also places two other agencies and four campus police departments in Franklin County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The Pickerington Police Department and the Lithopolis Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Franklin County, so their arrests are not broken out for Franklin County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Columbus's 6,925 for 2025, Whitehall's 3,042 for 2025 and Grove City's 1,827 for 2025.
Together, the 24 agencies in Franklin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 19,932 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 Westerville arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction lists its inmates at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Westerville?
Look on the custody page of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.franklincountyohio.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Franklin County jail?
About 1,660 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 1,883 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Franklin 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 Westerville 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.