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 September 30, 2026.
Madison County, Ohio, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Madison 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 Madison 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: Madison County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Madison County
The Madison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Madison County. It reported 200 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:
- London, 10,743 residents: 204 arrests reported for 2024.
- West Jefferson, 4,943 residents: 35 arrests reported for 2025.
- Plain City, 4,374 residents: 40 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 Madison 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.
- Madison County Sheriff's Office: 200 for 2025, 192 for 2024, 185 for 2023, 180 for 2022, 175 for 2021 and 251 for 2020.
- Plain City: 40 for 2025, 50 for 2024, 92 for 2023, 90 for 2022, 56 for 2020 and 78 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- West Jefferson: 35 for 2025, 32 for 2024, 43 for 2023, 42 for 2022, 44 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
- London: 204 for 2024, 237 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 195 for 2021, 234 for 2020 and 311 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 275 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 275 in 2025 against 274 in 2024, up 0.4 percent.
Through March 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 59 arrests, against 64 in the same months of 2025.
London reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Madison County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Madison 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 43 people, down from about 59 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 48 beds, and it ran at 89 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisonsheriff.org/inmateSearch (page title: Inmate Search | Madison County Sheriff's Office OH), 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 Madison County
Whether someone was arrested in Madison County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Madison County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.madison.oh.us/departments/court_system/clerk_of_courts/records_s...); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.madison.oh.us/departments/court_system/prosecutor/index.php, phone (740) 845-1694).
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 Madison 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in London, West Jefferson or Plain City: 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, (740) 845-1694, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Madison County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at co.madison.oh.us.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madison.oh.gov (page title: Public Records Request Information).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Madison County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the six cities in Madison County: London, West Jefferson and Plain City. Mount Sterling, South Solon and Midway 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 Madison County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Madison County each year?
The Madison County Sheriff's Office reported 200 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 275 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Madison County?
Look on the custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisonsheriff.org/inmateSearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Madison County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Madison County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Madison 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 Madison County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Madison 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 madison.oh.gov.
Is this the official Madison 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.