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.
Ellis County, Oklahoma, has about 3,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Ellis County District Court. 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: Ellis County public records, Oklahoma arrest records, Oklahoma inmate search and Oklahoma criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ellis County
The Ellis County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ellis County. It reported 23 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Ellis County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Shattuck, 1,191 residents: 0 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 Ellis 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.
- Ellis County Sheriff's Office: 23 for 2025, 27 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 17 for 2022, 23 for 2021 and 30 for 2020.
- Shattuck: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 23 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 23 in 2025 against 27 in 2024.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 15 arrests, against 14 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ellis County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ellis 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 26 people, up from about 16 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 31 beds, and it ran at 85 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Oklahoma Department of Corrections lists its inmates at okoffender.doc.ok.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ellis County
For Ellis County the place to look is OSCN and ODCR, the free online dockets of every Oklahoma district court, which shows whether charges were filed.
Oklahoma is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can order a name-based criminal history search online, for $15 a search, through the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Ellis 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 Oklahoma Open Records Act the agency must answer promptly; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge copying at no more than 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Shattuck: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Ellis County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Ellis County: Shattuck. Arnett, Gage and Fargo 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 Ellis County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ellis County each year?
The Ellis County Sheriff's Office reported 23 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 23 between them.
Where are people arrested in Ellis County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ellis County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation: anyone can order a name-based criminal history search online, for $15. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Ellis County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ellis County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Oklahoma Open Records Act the answer is due promptly; the statute sets no number of days.
Is this the official Ellis 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.