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.
Ontario, Oregon, in Malheur County, has about 12,000 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 Malheur 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: Ontario public records, Malheur County arrest records, Oregon arrest records and Oregon inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ontario
The FBI lists Ontario with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ontario Police Department. It reported 658 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 Malheur County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 497 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Malheur County: the Malheur County Liquor Commission (state agency); the Malheur County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Ontario 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.
- Ontario: 658 for 2025, 635 for 2024, 539 for 2023, 622 for 2022, 678 for 2021 and 816 for 2020.
Ontario's 658 arrests in 2025 were up 3.6 percent from 635 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Ontario reported 335 arrests, against 319 in the same months of 2025.
Across Malheur County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,132 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ontario Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ontario 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 72 people, up from about 72 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 91 beds, and it ran at 79 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 Malheur County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.malheurco.org (page title: MALHEUR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE | Our Mission: Provide public safety services to our community with a professi), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Ontario
An arrest in Ontario can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Malheur 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/malheur/records/pages/default.aspx, phone 541-473-5171); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at malheurco.org/district-attorney/district-attorney-information, phone (541) 473-5127).
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 Ontario
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 Ontario police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at oregon.gov/osp/programs/pages/public-records-requests.aspx (page title: Oregon State Police : Public Records Requests : Programs : State of Oregon), phone 503-945-5000, 3565 Trelstad Ave SE Salem, OR 97317, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Malheur County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (541) 473-5127, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Malheur County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.oregon.gov, phone 541-473-5171.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at malheurco.org/public-records-request-policy (page title: Public Records Request | Policy | Malheur County Oregon).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Malheur County guide covers every agency in the county: Malheur County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ontario each year?
Ontario reported 658 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ontario?
Ask the Malheur County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.malheurco.org.
Where are people arrested in Ontario booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Malheur County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ontario?
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 Ontario?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ontario police for its own arrests, the Malheur 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at malheurco.org/public-records-request-policy.
Is this the official Ontario 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.