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 4, 2026.
Hardin County, Ohio, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hardin 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 Hardin 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: Hardin County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hardin County
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hardin County. It reported 84 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Kenton, 7,857 residents: 154 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ada, 5,293 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2025.
- Forest, 1,332 residents.
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 Hardin 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.
- Kenton: 154 for 2025, 120 for 2024, 153 for 2023, 155 for 2022, 94 for 2020 and 127 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Hardin County Sheriff's Office: 84 for 2025, 76 for 2024, 128 for 2020 and 116 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Ada: 44 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 13 for 2020 and 16 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 282 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 282 in 2025 against 225 in 2024, up 25 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 200 arrests, against 189 in the same months of 2025.
Forest reported only part of 2025 (5 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hardin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hardin 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 73 people, up from about 65 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 79 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Hardin County Sheriff's Office at hardinsheriff.com/inmateRoster (page title: Hardin County Sheriff's Office (OH)), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Hardin County
An arrest in Hardin County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hardincountyohio.gov/prosecutor-home, phone (419) 674-2284).
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 Hardin 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 Hardin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Kenton, Ada or Forest: 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) 674-2284, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Hardin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the nine cities in Hardin County: Kenton, Ada and Forest. Alger, Dunkirk, Mount Victory, McGuffey, Ridgeway and Patterson 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 Hardin County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hardin County each year?
Kenton reported 154 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 282 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hardin County?
Look on the custody page of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office at hardinsheriff.com/inmateRoster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Hardin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hardin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hardin County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Hardin 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 Hardin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hardin 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 Hardin 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.