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.
Highland County, Ohio, has about 44,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Highland County Sheriff's Office and six 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 Highland 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: Highland County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Highland County
The Highland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Highland County. It reported 198 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Hillsboro, 6,599 residents: 60 arrests reported for 2025.
- Greenfield, 4,350 residents: 64 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lynchburg, 1,544 residents.
- Leesburg, 1,283 residents: 14 arrests reported for 2024.
- Mowrystown, 386 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Highland, 231 residents: 1,152 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 Highland 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.
- Mowrystown: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Highland: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Highland County Sheriff's Office: 198 for 2024, 264 for 2023, 247 for 2022, 191 for 2021, 204 for 2020 and 209 for 2019.
- Hillsboro: 60 for 2025, 99 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 96 for 2022, 116 for 2021 and 98 for 2020.
- Greenfield: 64 for 2025, 85 for 2024, 112 for 2023, 93 for 2022, 35 for 2021 and 81 for 2020.
- Leesburg: 14 for 2024, 9 for 2022, 24 for 2020 and 35 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 2,700 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 2,686 in 2024 against 2,782 in 2023, down 3.5 percent.
Lynchburg reported only part of 2024 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Highland County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Highland 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 82 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 78 beds, and it ran at 105 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 Highland County Sheriff's Office at highlandcoso.com (page title: Highland County Sheriff's Office in Ohio), 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 Highland County
An arrest in Highland County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Highland County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at highlandclerkofcourts.org, phone 937-393-9957); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ohioattorneygeneral.gov/getattachment/475d523e-7262-47d0-9706-5a525..., phone (614) 752-6417).
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 Highland 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 Highland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Hillsboro, Greenfield, Lynchburg, Leesburg, Mowrystown or Highland: 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, (614) 752-6417, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Highland County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at highlandclerkofcourts.org, phone 937-393-9957.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Highland County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the seven cities in Highland County: Hillsboro, Greenfield, Lynchburg, Leesburg, Mowrystown and Highland. Sinking Spring has 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 Highland County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Highland County each year?
Mowrystown reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Highland County sent in full, the six with every month on file reported 2,700 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Highland County?
Ask the Highland County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at highlandcoso.com.
Where are people arrested in Highland County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Highland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Highland County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Highland 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 Highland County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Highland 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 Highland 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.