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.
Champaign County, Ohio, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Champaign County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. 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 Champaign 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: Champaign County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Champaign County
The Champaign County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Champaign County. It reported 265 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Urbana, 11,211 residents: 492 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mechanicsburg, 1,681 residents: 41 arrests reported for 2024.
- North Lewisburg, 1,655 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Champaign County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Urbana: 492 for 2025, 644 for 2024, 680 for 2023, 618 for 2022, 665 for 2021 and 753 for 2020.
- Champaign County Sheriff's Office: 265 for 2025, 236 for 2024, 309 for 2023, 337 for 2022, 263 for 2021 and 267 for 2020.
- Mechanicsburg: 41 for 2024, 100 for 2023, 90 for 2022, 125 for 2021, 44 for 2020 and 48 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 921 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 921 in 2024 against 1,089 in 2023, down 15 percent.
North Lewisburg reported only part of 2024 (4 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Champaign County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Champaign 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 35 people, down from about 48 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 39 beds, and it ran at 89 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 Champaign County
An arrest in Champaign County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Champaign 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 ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Individuals-and-Families/Victims/Vict...).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at champaigncountymunicipalcourt.com (page title: Champaign County Municipal Court), phone 937.653.7376, belongs to a lower court, not to the Champaign 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 Champaign 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 Champaign County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Urbana, Mechanicsburg or North Lewisburg: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Champaign County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at champaigncountymunicipalcourt.com, phone 937.653.7376, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Champaign County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Champaign County: Urbana, Mechanicsburg and North Lewisburg. St. Paris, Christiansburg, Woodstock and Mutual have 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 Champaign County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Champaign County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Urbana (11,211)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Champaign County each year?
Urbana reported 492 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Champaign County sent in full, the three with every month on file reported 921 between them.
Where are people arrested in Champaign County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Champaign County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Champaign County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Champaign 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 Champaign County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Champaign 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 Champaign 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.