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.
Gallia County, Ohio, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Gallia County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one campus 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 Gallia 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: Gallia County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Gallia County
The Gallia County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Gallia County. It reported 61 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Gallipolis, 3,282 residents: 78 arrests reported for 2024.
- Rio Grande, 724 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Gallia County: the University of Rio Grande (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Gallia 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.
- Gallipolis: 78 for 2024, 64 for 2023, 99 for 2021, 103 for 2020 and 75 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Gallia County Sheriff's Office: 61 for 2025, 52 for 2024, 85 for 2023, 73 for 2022, 67 for 2021 and 29 for 2020.
- Rio Grande: 0 for 2020 and 2 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 130 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 130 in 2024 against 149 in 2023, down 13 percent.
Rio Grande reported only part of 2024 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gallia County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Gallia 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 70 people, down from about 83 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 11 beds, and it ran at 636 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Gallia County Sheriff's Office at galliasheriff.org/httpwwwjdsincnetohgallia (page title: Inmate Search | Gallia County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Gallia County
Whether someone was arrested in Gallia County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Gallia County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Gallia County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at galliacountyoh.gov/clerk-of-courts, phone (740) 446-4612); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at galliacountyoh.gov/prosecuting-attorney, phone (740) 446-4612).
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 Gallia 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 Gallia County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Gallipolis or Rio Grande: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the University of Rio Grande: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (740) 446-4612, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Gallia County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at galliacountyoh.gov/clerk-of-courts, phone (740) 446-4612.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Gallia County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Gallia County: Gallipolis and Rio Grande. Crown City, Vinton, Cheshire and Centerville (Thurman) 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 Gallia County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gallia County each year?
Gallipolis reported 78 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the two agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 130 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Gallia County?
Look on the custody page of the Gallia County Sheriff's Office at galliasheriff.org/httpwwwjdsincnetohgallia. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Gallia County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Gallia County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gallia County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Gallia 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 Gallia County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gallia 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 Gallia 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.