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.
Fairfield County, Ohio, has about 168,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fairfield County is held at the county jail, run by the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Fairfield County public records, Fairfield County arrest records, Fairfield County warrants, Fairfield County criminal records, Fairfield County court records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Fairfield County
The county jail, run by the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Fairfield County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.fairfield.oh.us/FC-Jail-Bureau.html (page title: Jail Bureau | Fairfield County Sheriff's Office), phone 740-652-7900, 345 Lincoln Avenue Lancaster, OH 43130, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 740-652-7900.
The Fairfield County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 250 people, down from about 310 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 384 beds, and it ran at 65 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Fairfield County has about 168,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 15 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Fairfield County Jail
The Fairfield County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Lancaster, Pickerington, Baltimore, Lithopolis, Millersport, Pleasantville and two more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Fairfield County.
The Buckeye Lake Police Department, the Reynoldsburg Police Department and the Columbus Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Fairfield County, so their arrests are not broken out for Fairfield County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Pleasantville's 1,152 for 2025, Lancaster's 446 for 2025 and the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office's 230 for 2025.
Together, the four agencies in Fairfield County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,964 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Fairfield County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Fairfield County serves the sentence in a facility of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, whose inmate locator is at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Fairfield County?
Ask the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office at 740-652-7900; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.fairfield.oh.us/FC-Jail-Bureau.html.
How many people are in the Fairfield County jail?
About 250 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 384 beds.
What is the phone number for the Fairfield County jail?
740-652-7900, the number on the page of the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Fairfield County go?
To a facility of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; its inmate locator is at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
Is this the official Fairfield 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.