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 24, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Kay County, Oklahoma, has about 43,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Kay County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and one other 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 Kay 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: Kay County public records, Oklahoma arrest records, Oklahoma inmate search and Oklahoma criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Kay County
The Kay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Kay County. It reported 120 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Kay County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ponca City, 24,234 residents: 743 arrests reported for 2025.
- Blackwell, 6,016 residents: 97 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tonkawa, 2,988 residents: 66 arrests reported for 2025.
- Newkirk, 2,243 residents: 8 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 one more agency in Kay County: District Attorneys Council at Drug Task Force 8 (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Kay 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.
- Ponca City: 743 for 2025, 783 for 2024, 868 for 2023, 711 for 2022, 703 for 2021 and 645 for 2020.
- Kay County Sheriff's Office: 120 for 2025, 90 for 2024, 82 for 2023, 120 for 2022, 153 for 2021 and 94 for 2020.
- Blackwell: 97 for 2025, 96 for 2024, 132 for 2023, 83 for 2022, 90 for 2021 and 99 for 2020.
- Tonkawa: 66 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 98 for 2023, 68 for 2022, 70 for 2021 and 74 for 2020.
- Newkirk: 8 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 35 for 2022, 11 for 2021 and 15 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,034 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,034 in 2025 against 1,062 in 2024, down 2.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 659 arrests, against 598 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kay County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kay 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 310 people, up from about 250 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 361 beds, and it ran at 70 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 Kay County Sheriff's Office at courthouse.kay.ok.us/176/Kay-County-Sheriffs-Office (page title: Kay County Sheriff's Office | Kay County, OK), phone 580-362-3250, 1101 W Dry Road Newkirk, OK 74647, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
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 Kay County
For Kay County the place to look is the case index of the Kay County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courthouse.kay.ok.us).
Statewide, OSCN and ODCR is the free online dockets of every Oklahoma district court.
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 Kay 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 Kay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 580-362-3250.
- An arrest in Ponca City, Blackwell, Tonkawa or Newkirk: 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 District Attorneys Council at Drug Task Force 8: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Kay County District Court, through the court records page at courthouse.kay.ok.us.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Kay County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the seven cities in Kay County: Ponca City, Blackwell, Tonkawa and Newkirk. Kaw City, Braman and Kildare 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 Kay County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Kay County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Ponca City (24,234)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Kay County each year?
Ponca City reported 743 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,034 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Kay County?
Ask the Kay County Sheriff's Office at 580-362-3250; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at courthouse.kay.ok.us.
Where are people arrested in Kay County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Kay 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 Kay County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Kay 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 Kay 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.