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 on September 23, 2026.
Belmont County, Ohio, has about 65,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Belmont County Sheriff's Office, ten city agencies and one other agency. An arrest 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 Belmont County Court of Common Pleas. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Belmont County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Belmont County
The Belmont County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Belmont County. It reported 158 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists nine cities in Belmont County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Martins Ferry, 6,050 residents: 123 arrests reported for 2025.
- St. Clairsville, 4,954 residents: 36 arrests reported for 2025.
- Barnesville, 3,902 residents: 72 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bellaire, 3,745 residents: 33 arrests reported for 2025.
- Shadyside, 3,351 residents.
- Bridgeport, 1,531 residents: 41 arrests reported for 2025.
- Powhatan Point, 1,413 residents.
- Bethesda, 1,184 residents.
- Flushing, 808 residents.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Yorkville Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Belmont County, so its arrests are not broken out for Belmont County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Belmont County: Belmont County Major Crimes Unit (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Belmont County
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.
- Belmont County Sheriff's Office: 158 for 2025, 165 for 2024, 177 for 2023, 287 for 2022, 217 for 2021 and 214 for 2020.
- Martins Ferry: 123 for 2025, 170 for 2024, 234 for 2023, 265 for 2022, 133 for 2021 and 157 for 2020.
- Barnesville: 72 for 2025, 58 for 2024, 67 for 2023, 86 for 2022, 80 for 2021 and 89 for 2020.
- Bridgeport: 41 for 2025, 43 for 2024, 56 for 2022, 23 for 2020 and 61 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- St. Clairsville: 36 for 2025, 41 for 2024, 80 for 2023 and 48 for 2022.
- Bellaire: 33 for 2025, 56 for 2024, 89 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 71 for 2021 and 23 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 463 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 463 in 2025 against 533 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 305 arrests, against 298 in the same months of 2025.
Powhatan Point, Shadyside, Flushing and Richland Township reported only part of 2025 (5 months, 4 months, 2 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Belmont County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Belmont County 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 190 people, up from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 144 beds, and it ran at 127 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 Belmont County Sheriff's Office at belmontsheriffohio.gov/jail (page title: Belmont County Jail | Inmate Info & Visitation Rules), phone 740-695-5124, 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 Belmont County
An arrest in Belmont County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Belmont County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Belmont 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 belmontcountycourts.com/courts/prosecutors-office/16, phone 740-699-2771).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at belmontcountycourts.com (page title: Belmont County Courts | Belmont County Ohio Courts | Belmont County Ohio Public Records | Belmont County Ohio ), belongs to a lower court, not to the Belmont 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 Belmont County
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 Belmont County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 740-695-5124.
- An arrest in Martins Ferry, St. Clairsville, Barnesville, Bellaire, Shadyside, Bridgeport or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Belmont County Major Crimes Unit: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 740-699-2771, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at belmontcountycourts.com, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at belmontsheriffohio.gov/public-records (page title: Request Records | Belmont County Sheriff's Office).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Belmont County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for nine of the 13 cities in Belmont County: Martins Ferry, St. Clairsville, Barnesville, Bellaire, Shadyside, Bridgeport, Powhatan Point, Bethesda and Flushing. Brookside, Belmont, Holloway and Morristown have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Richland Township Police Department as a city agency in Belmont County; Richland Township is not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Belmont County each year?
The Belmont County Sheriff's Office reported 158 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 463 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Belmont County?
Look on the custody page of the Belmont County Sheriff's Office at belmontsheriffohio.gov/jail, or call 740-695-5124. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Belmont County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Belmont County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Belmont County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Belmont 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 Belmont County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Belmont County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 belmontsheriffohio.gov/public-records.
Is this the official Belmont County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.