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 26, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in Cherokee County, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Tahlequah is held at the county jail, run by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Tahlequah public records, Cherokee County inmate search, Tahlequah arrest records, Tahlequah warrants, Tahlequah criminal records, Tahlequah court records, Oklahoma arrest records and Oklahoma inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Tahlequah
The county jail, run by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Tahlequah, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at cherokee.okcounties.org/offices/county-sheriff (page title: County Sheriff), phone 918.456.2583, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 918.456.2583.
The Cherokee County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 56 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 148 beds, and it ran at 97 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Cherokee County has about 49,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 11 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Cherokee County Jail
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Tahlequah (filed by the FBI as Tahlequah Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Tahlequah.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Cherokee County: Northeastern State University at Tahlequah (campus police).
The Fort Gibson Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Cherokee County, so its arrests are not broken out for Cherokee County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Tahlequah's 487 for 2025, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office's 378 for 2025 and Hulbert's 18 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Cherokee County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 883 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Tahlequah arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Oklahoma Department of Corrections lists its inmates at okoffender.doc.ok.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Tahlequah?
Ask the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 918.456.2583; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cherokee.okcounties.org.
How many people are in the Cherokee County jail?
About 56 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 148 beds.
What is the phone number for the Cherokee County jail?
918.456.2583, the number on the page of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Cherokee County go?
To a facility of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at okoffender.doc.ok.gov.
Is this the official Tahlequah website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.