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 September 26, 2026.
Independence, Oregon, in Polk County, has about 10,000 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 Polk 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: Independence public records, Polk County arrest records, Oregon arrest records and Oregon inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Independence
The FBI lists Independence with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Independence Police Department. It reported 222 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 326 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Polk County: the Polk County Liquor Commission (state agency); the Polk County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Independence 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.
- Independence: 222 for 2025, 218 for 2024, 222 for 2023, 203 for 2022, 198 for 2021 and 174 for 2020.
Independence's 222 arrests in 2025 were up 1.8 percent from 218 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Independence reported 153 arrests, against 145 in the same months of 2025.
Across Polk County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,118 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Independence Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Independence 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 120 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 195 beds, and it ran at 92 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 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 Independence
For Independence the place to look is the case index of the Polk 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/polk/records/pages/default.aspx).
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 Independence
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 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 Independence police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at ci.independence.or.us/independence-police-release-monthly-report-13 (page title: Independence Police Release Monthly Report | City of Independence), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
- An arrest by the Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Polk 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 Polk County guide covers every agency in the county: Polk County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Independence each year?
Independence reported 222 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Independence booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Independence?
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 Independence?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Independence police for its own arrests, the Polk 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 Independence 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.