Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 October 4, 2026.
Forest Grove, Oregon, in Washington County, has about 27,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 Washington County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Forest Grove public records, Washington County arrest records, Oregon arrest records and Oregon inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Forest Grove
The FBI lists Forest Grove with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Forest Grove Police Department. It reported 347 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 6,159 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Washington County: the Washington County Liquor Commission (state agency); the Hillsboro School District (other); the Washington County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Forest Grove Reports
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.
- Forest Grove: 347 for 2025, 419 for 2024, 435 for 2023, 443 for 2022, 390 for 2021 and 472 for 2020.
Forest Grove's 347 arrests in 2025 were down 17 percent from 419 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Forest Grove reported 217 arrests, against 233 in the same months of 2025.
Across Washington County, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18,060 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Forest Grove Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Forest Grove 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 420 people, down from about 560 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 572 beds, and it ran at 98 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office at washingtoncountyor.gov/sheriff/jail (page title: Jail Division | Washington County, OR), phone 503-846-6374, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Oregon Department of Corrections lists its inmates at oregon.gov/doc/victim-services/pages/offender-search.aspx.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Forest Grove
An arrest in Forest Grove can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Washington County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.oregon.gov/courts/washington/records/pages/default.aspx); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at washingtoncountyor.gov/locations/justice-services-building/district...).
Statewide, Oregon eCourt Case Information is the Oregon Judicial Department's online case search, free for basic case information.
Oregon is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: an Open Record Request returns anyone's Oregon conviction record by name, and the subject is told who asked, for $10 a search, through the Oregon State Police. 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 Forest Grove
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Oregon Public Records Law the agency must answer within 15 business days where practicable, after acknowledging the request within 5, and it may charge the actual cost of making the record available.
- An arrest by the Forest Grove police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at forestgrove-or.gov/263/Police-Records-Requests (page title: Police Records Requests | Forest Grove, OR), phone 503-992-3260, 2102 Pacific Avenue Forest Grove, OR 97116, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 503-846-6374.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washington County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.oregon.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Washington County guide covers every agency in the county: Washington County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Forest Grove each year?
Forest Grove reported 347 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Forest Grove?
Ask the Washington County Sheriff's Office at 503-846-6374; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at washingtoncountyor.gov/sheriff/jail.
Where are people arrested in Forest Grove booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Forest Grove?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Oregon State Police: an Open Record Request returns anyone's Oregon conviction record by name, and the subject is told who asked, for $10. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Oregon Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Forest Grove?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Forest Grove police for its own arrests, the Washington County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Oregon Public Records Law the answer is due within 15 business days where practicable, after acknowledging the request within 5.
Is this the official Forest Grove 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.