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.
Clinton County, Ohio, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clinton 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 Clinton 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: Clinton County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clinton County
The Clinton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clinton County. It reported 14 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Clinton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Wilmington, 12,639 residents: 519 arrests reported for 2023.
- Blanchester, 4,226 residents: 27 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sabina, 2,465 residents: 49 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Lynchburg Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Clinton County, so its arrests are not broken out for Clinton County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clinton 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.
- Blanchester: 27 for 2025, 35 for 2024, 61 for 2023, 35 for 2022, 67 for 2021 and 130 for 2020.
- Clinton County Sheriff's Office: 14 for 2025, 30 for 2024, 55 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 90 for 2021 and 83 for 2020.
- Wilmington: 519 for 2023, 418 for 2022, 475 for 2021, 386 for 2020 and 306 for 2019.
- Sabina: 49 for 2023, 54 for 2022, 17 for 2021, 28 for 2020 and 26 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 41 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 41 in 2025 against 65 in 2024, down 37 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 36 arrests, against 28 in the same months of 2025.
Sabina reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clinton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clinton 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 47 people, down from about 75 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 92 beds, and it ran at 82 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Clinton County Sheriff's Office at clintonsheriff.com/mobile-patrol-phone-app (page title: Mobile Patrol Phone App | Clinton County Sheriff's Office), phone (937) 382-1611, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Clinton County
An arrest in Clinton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Clinton 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 co.clinton.oh.us/ProsecutingAttorney, phone 937-382-4559).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at clintoncountycourts.org/recordSearch.php (page title: Clinton County Clerk of Courts | Record Search), belongs to a lower court, not to the Clinton 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 Clinton 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 Clinton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (937) 382-1611.
- An arrest in Wilmington, Blanchester or Sabina: 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, 937-382-4559, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Clinton County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at clintoncountycourts.org/recordSearch.php, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Clinton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the eight cities in Clinton County: Wilmington, Blanchester and Sabina. New Vienna, Clarksville, Martinsville, Midland and Port William 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 Clinton County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Clinton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Wilmington (12,639)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clinton County each year?
Blanchester reported 27 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 41 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clinton County?
Ask the Clinton County Sheriff's Office at (937) 382-1611; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at clintonsheriff.com/mobile-patrol-phone-app.
Where are people arrested in Clinton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clinton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clinton County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Clinton 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 Clinton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clinton 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 Clinton 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.