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.
Shelby County, Ohio, has about 48,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shelby 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 Shelby 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: Shelby County public records, Ohio arrest records, Ohio inmate search and Ohio criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shelby County
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shelby County. It reported 261 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Shelby County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Sidney, 20,392 residents: 607 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fort Loramie, 1,589 residents.
- Jackson Center, 1,438 residents.
- Botkins, 1,183 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- Port Jefferson, 302 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 Shelby 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.
- Port Jefferson: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Sidney: 607 for 2025, 549 for 2024, 435 for 2023, 394 for 2022, 313 for 2021 and 388 for 2020.
- Shelby County Sheriff's Office: 261 for 2025, 241 for 2024, 230 for 2023, 205 for 2022, 147 for 2021 and 72 for 2020.
- Botkins: 11 for 2025, 12 for 2024, 13 for 2023, 25 for 2021 and 17 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,031 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,031 in 2025 against 1,954 in 2024, up 3.9 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 942 arrests, against 976 in the same months of 2025.
Fort Loramie reported only part of 2025 (2 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shelby County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shelby 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 94 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 188 beds, and it ran at 50 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 Shelby County
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 Shelby 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sidney, Fort Loramie, Jackson Center, Botkins or Port Jefferson: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
Cities in Shelby County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the nine cities in Shelby County: Sidney, Fort Loramie, Jackson Center, Botkins and Port Jefferson. Anna, Russia, Kettlersville and Lockington 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 Shelby County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Shelby County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Sidney (20,392)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shelby County each year?
Port Jefferson reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,031 between them.
Where are people arrested in Shelby County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shelby County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Shelby 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 Shelby County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shelby 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 Shelby 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.