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.
Mercer County, Ohio, has about 43,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Mercer 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: Mercer County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mercer County
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mercer County. It reported 68 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Mercer County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Celina, 10,945 residents: 163 arrests reported for 2025.
- Coldwater, 4,729 residents: 29 arrests reported for 2024.
- St. Henry, 2,608 residents.
- Fort Recovery, 1,474 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2022.
- Rockford, 1,031 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 Mercer 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.
- Mercer County Sheriff's Office: 68 for 2025, 66 for 2024, 46 for 2023, 51 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 68 for 2020.
- Coldwater: 29 for 2024, 27 for 2023, 33 for 2022, 41 for 2021 and 40 for 2020.
- Fort Recovery: 13 for 2022.
- Celina: 163 for 2025 and 187 for 2024.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 97 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2022 and 2021 complete reported 84 in 2022 against 110 in 2021, down 24 percent.
Rockford and St. Henry reported only part of 2022 (1 month and 9 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mercer County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mercer 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 67 people, down from about 72 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 104 beds, and it ran at 69 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 Mercer County Sheriff's Office at inmate.mercercountysheriffohio.gov (page title: Mercer County Sheriff's Office Jail Inmate Search), 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 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 Mercer County
An arrest in Mercer County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Mercer County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mercercountyoh.gov/elected-officials/clerk-of-courts, phone (419) 586-6461); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Individuals-and-Families/Victims/Vict...).
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 Mercer 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 Mercer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Celina, Coldwater, St. Henry, Fort Recovery or Rockford: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at mercercountyoh.gov, phone (419) 586-6461.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mercercountysheriffohio.gov (page title: Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Mercer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the nine cities in Mercer County: Celina, Coldwater, St. Henry, Fort Recovery and Rockford. Mendon, Chickasaw, Burkettsville and Montezuma 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 Mercer County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mercer County each year?
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office reported 68 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2022, the latest year most of the agencies in Mercer County sent in full, the three with every month on file reported 97 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mercer County?
Look on the custody page of the Mercer County Sheriff's Office at inmate.mercercountysheriffohio.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Mercer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mercer County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Mercer 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 Mercer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mercer 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 mercercountysheriffohio.gov.
Is this the official Mercer 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.