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.
Scioto County, Ohio, has about 72,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Scioto County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and two campus, state or other 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 Scioto 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: Scioto County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Scioto County
The Scioto County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Scioto County. It reported 193 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Portsmouth, 17,489 residents: 615 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Boston, 2,227 residents: 211 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Scioto County: Southern Ohio Organized and Major Crimes Task Force (other); Shawnee State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Scioto 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.
- Portsmouth: 615 for 2025, 712 for 2024, 747 for 2023, 967 for 2021, 728 for 2020 and 999 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- New Boston: 211 for 2025, 97 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 208 for 2020 and 304 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.
- Scioto County Sheriff's Office: 193 for 2025, 151 for 2024, 200 for 2023, 293 for 2022, 104 for 2021 and 106 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,019 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 808 in 2025 against 863 in 2024, down 6.4 percent.
Through September 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 685 arrests, against 769 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Scioto County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Scioto 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 150 people, up from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 139 beds, and it ran at 107 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 Scioto County Sheriff's Office at sciotocountysheriff.org (page title: Sheriff | Scioto County Sheriff | Portsmouth), 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 Scioto County
Whether someone was arrested in Scioto County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Scioto 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 sciotocountypo.org).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at sciotocountycpcourt.org/eservices/home.page.2 (page title: Scioto County Court of Common Pleas Records Search), belongs to a lower court, not to the Scioto 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 Scioto 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 Scioto County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Portsmouth or New Boston: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Southern Ohio Organized and Major Crimes Task Force or Shawnee State University: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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: in the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at sciotocountycpcourt.org/eservices/home.page.2, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Scioto County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Scioto County: Portsmouth and New Boston. South Webster, Rarden and Otway 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 Scioto County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Scioto County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Portsmouth (17,489)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Scioto County each year?
Portsmouth reported 615 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,019 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Scioto County?
Ask the Scioto County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sciotocountysheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Scioto County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scioto County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Scioto County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Scioto 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 Scioto County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Scioto 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 Scioto 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.