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.
Defiance County, Ohio, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Defiance County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Defiance 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: Defiance County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Defiance County
The Defiance County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Defiance County. It reported 320 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Defiance County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Defiance, 17,180 residents: 668 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hicksville, 3,447 residents: 69 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Defiance 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.
- Defiance: 668 for 2025, 690 for 2024, 860 for 2023, 743 for 2022, 851 for 2021 and 879 for 2020.
- Defiance County Sheriff's Office: 320 for 2025, 314 for 2024, 360 for 2023, 435 for 2022, 428 for 2021 and 360 for 2020.
- Hicksville: 69 for 2025, 89 for 2024, 106 for 2023, 76 for 2022, 91 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,057 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,057 in 2025 against 1,093 in 2024, down 3.3 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 714 arrests, against 588 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Defiance County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Defiance 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 140 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 182 beds, and it ran at 79 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 Defiance County Sheriff's Office at defiance-county.com/dcso (page title: Defiance County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Defiance County
Whether someone was arrested in Defiance County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Defiance 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 defiance-county.com/prosecutor, phone (419) 782-2402).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at defiancemunicipalcourt.com/recordSearch.php (page title: Defiance Municipal Court | Record Search), belongs to a lower court, not to the Defiance 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 Defiance 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 Defiance County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Defiance or Hicksville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (419) 782-2402, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Defiance County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at defiancemunicipalcourt.com/recordSearch.php, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Defiance County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Defiance County: Defiance and Hicksville. Sherwood and Ney 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 Defiance County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Defiance County each year?
Defiance reported 668 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,057 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Defiance County?
Ask the Defiance County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at defiance-county.com/dcso.
Where are people arrested in Defiance County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Defiance County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Defiance County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Defiance 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 Defiance County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Defiance 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 Defiance 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.