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 October 4, 2026.
Brown County, Ohio, has about 44,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Brown County Sheriff's Office, eight 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 Brown 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: Brown County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Brown County
The Brown County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Brown County.
Arrests inside eight of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Georgetown, 4,498 residents: 94 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Orab, 4,400 residents: 32 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ripley, 1,591 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
- Aberdeen, 1,542 residents.
- Sardinia, 1,109 residents.
- Russellville, 548 residents.
- Hamersville, 497 residents.
- Higginsport, 218 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Brown County: Lake Waynoka Rangers (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Brown 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.
- Higginsport: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Georgetown: 94 for 2025, 40 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 47 for 2022, 42 for 2021 and 34 for 2020.
- Mount Orab: 32 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 11 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 20 for 2021 and 18 for 2020.
- Ripley: 0 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,278 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,278 in 2025 against 1,221 in 2024, up 4.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 722 arrests, against 852 in the same months of 2025.
Brown County Sheriff's Office and Aberdeen reported only part of 2025 (7 months and 9 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Brown County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Brown 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 110 people, up from about 88 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 66 beds, and it ran at 133 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 Brown County Sheriff's Office at brown.miamivalleyjails.org (page title: Brown County, Ohio, Sheriff | Persons Currently In Custody), phone (937) 378-4435, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction lists its inmates at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Brown County
Whether someone was arrested in Brown County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Brown County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Brown 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 browncountyohio.gov/index.php/prosecutor45, phone (937) 378-4151).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at clerkofcourtsbrowncountyohio.org/homeMC.php (page title: Brown County Courts), phone (937) 378-6358, belongs to a lower court, not to the Brown 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 Brown County
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 Brown County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (937) 378-4435.
- An arrest in Georgetown, Mount Orab, Ripley, Aberdeen, Sardinia, Russellville or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Lake Waynoka Rangers: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (937) 378-4151, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Brown County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at clerkofcourtsbrowncountyohio.org/homeMC.php, phone (937) 378-6358, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Brown County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the nine cities in Brown County: Georgetown, Mount Orab, Ripley, Aberdeen, Sardinia, Russellville, Hamersville and Higginsport. Fayetteville has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Brown County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Brown County each year?
Higginsport reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,278 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Brown County?
Look on the custody page of the Brown County Sheriff's Office at brown.miamivalleyjails.org, or call (937) 378-4435. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Brown County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Brown County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Brown County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Brown 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 Brown County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Brown 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.
Is this the official Brown 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.