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.
Putnam County, Ohio, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and eight 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 Putnam 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: Putnam County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Putnam County
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Putnam County. It reported 39 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists eight cities in Putnam County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ottawa, 4,422 residents: 15 arrests reported for 2025.
- Leipsic, 2,159 residents.
- Columbus Grove, 2,124 residents.
- Kalida, 1,451 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pandora, 1,186 residents.
- Continental, 1,085 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ottoville, 967 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Belmore, 59 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 Putnam 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.
- Ottoville: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Kalida: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Belmore: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Continental: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Putnam County Sheriff's Office: 39 for 2025, 39 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 38 for 2022, 29 for 2021 and 32 for 2020.
- Ottawa: 15 for 2025, 13 for 2024, 27 for 2023, 27 for 2022, 29 for 2020 and 26 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,662 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,662 in 2025 against 4,660 in 2024.
Through June 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,113 arrests, against 2,329 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Putnam County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Putnam 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 25 people, down from about 46 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 76 beds, and it ran at 61 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Putnam County
An arrest in Putnam County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Putnam 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 putnamcountyohio.gov/courts/prosecutors-office, phone 419.523.3600).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at putnamcountyohio.gov/courts/municipal-court (page title: Municipal Court | Putnam County Ohio), phone 419.523.3110, belongs to a lower court, not to the Putnam 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 Putnam 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 Putnam County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Ottawa, Leipsic, Columbus Grove, Kalida, Pandora, Continental or another of the cities listed above: 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, 419.523.3600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Putnam County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at putnamcountyohio.gov/courts/municipal-court, phone 419.523.3110, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Putnam County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the 15 cities in Putnam County: Ottawa, Leipsic, Columbus Grove, Kalida, Pandora, Continental, Ottoville and Belmore. Glandorf, Fort Jennings, West Leipsic, Dupont, Cloverdale, Gilboa and Miller City 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 Putnam County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Putnam County each year?
Ottoville reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,662 between them.
Where are people arrested in Putnam County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Putnam County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Putnam 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 Putnam County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Putnam 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 Putnam 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.