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 27, 2026.
Ottawa County, Ohio, has about 40,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office and 11 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 Ottawa 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: Ottawa County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ottawa County
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ottawa County.
The FBI lists eight cities in Ottawa County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Port Clinton, 5,915 residents: 144 arrests reported for 2025.
- Oak Harbor, 2,790 residents: 48 arrests reported for 2025.
- Genoa, 2,186 residents.
- Elmore, 1,371 residents.
- Marblehead, 835 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rocky Ridge, 306 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clay Center, 248 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Put-in-Bay, 152 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 Ottawa 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.
- Clay Center: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Marblehead: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Rocky Ridge: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Port Clinton: 144 for 2025, 161 for 2024, 156 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 146 for 2021 and 168 for 2020.
- Oak Harbor: 48 for 2025, 81 for 2024, 94 for 2023, 75 for 2022, 36 for 2021 and 46 for 2020.
- Carroll Township: 7 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 8 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 3,695 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 3,695 in 2023 against 3,633 in 2022, up 1.7 percent.
Genoa, Elmore, Clay Township and Catawba Island Township reported only part of 2023 (4 months, 9 months, 9 months and 9 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ottawa County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ottawa 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, down from about 96 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 87 beds, and it ran at 84 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at ottawacountysheriff.info (page title: Ottawa County Sheriff's Office | Sheriff Stephen J. Levorchick), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Ottawa County
Whether someone was arrested in Ottawa County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas, kept by the Clerk of Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.ottawa.oh.us/271/Prosecutors-Office, phone 419-734-6845).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at ottawacocpcourt.com/record-search (page title: Record Search | Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas), phone (419) 734-6790, belongs to a lower court, not to the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas.
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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Port Clinton, Oak Harbor, Genoa, Elmore, Marblehead, Rocky Ridge or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 419-734-6845, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at ottawacocpcourt.com/record-search, phone (419) 734-6790, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Ottawa County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the eight cities in Ottawa County: Port Clinton, Oak Harbor, Genoa, Elmore, Marblehead, Rocky Ridge, Clay Center and Put-in-Bay. The FBI's list also carries Clay Township Police Department, Ottawa County, the Catawba Island Township Police Department and the Carroll Township Police Department as city agencies in Ottawa County; Clay Township, Catawba Island Township and Carroll Township are not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ottawa County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Port Clinton (5,915)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ottawa County each year?
Clay Center reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Ottawa County sent in full, the six with every month on file reported 3,695 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ottawa County?
Ask the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ottawacountysheriff.info.
Where are people arrested in Ottawa County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ottawa County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Ottawa 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 Ottawa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ottawa 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 Ottawa 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.