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 9, 2026.
Fayette County, Ohio, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Fayette 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: Fayette County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Fayette County
The Fayette County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Fayette County. It reported 265 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Fayette County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Washington Court House, 14,446 residents: 417 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 New Holland Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Fayette County, so its arrests are not broken out for Fayette County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Fayette 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.
- Washington Court House: 417 for 2025, 423 for 2024, 404 for 2023, 471 for 2022, 475 for 2021 and 449 for 2020.
- Fayette County Sheriff's Office: 265 for 2024, 250 for 2023, 271 for 2022, 345 for 2021 and 340 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 688 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 688 in 2024 against 654 in 2023, up 5.2 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fayette County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fayette County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 110 people, up from about 68 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 24 beds, and it ran at 283 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 Fayette County
Whether someone was arrested in Fayette County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fayette-co-oh.com/264/Clerk-of-Courts, phone 888-404-4674); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fayette-co-oh.com/260/Prosecutor, phone 740-335-0888).
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 Fayette County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Fayette County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Washington Court House: 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, 740-335-0888, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at fayette-co-oh.com/264/Clerk-of-Courts, phone 888-404-4674.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at faycoso.com (page title: Public Records | Request a Report | Fayette Sheriff's Office, OH).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The other Fayette County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Fayette County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Fayette County: Washington Court House. Jeffersonville, Bloomingburg, Milledgeville and Octa 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 Fayette County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Fayette County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Washington Court House (14,446)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fayette County each year?
Washington Court House reported 417 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Fayette County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 688 between them.
Where are people arrested in Fayette County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fayette County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Fayette 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 Fayette County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fayette 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at faycoso.com.
Is this the official Fayette 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.