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 on September 24, 2026.
Columbia County, Oregon, has about 54,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbia County is held at the county jail, run by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Columbia County public records, Columbia County arrest records, Columbia County warrants, Columbia County criminal records, Columbia County court records, Oregon arrest records and Oregon inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Columbia County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbia County is held at the county jail, run by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.columbiacountyor.gov/CurrentInmateListing (page title: Columbia County Oregon Sheriff | Current Inmate Listing), 901 Port Ave., St. Helens, OR 97051, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Columbia County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 140 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 180 beds, and it ran at 79 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Columbia County has about 54,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 26 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Columbia County Jail
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for St. Helens, Scappoose, Vernonia, Columbia City and Rainier make the arrests that end in a booking in Columbia County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Columbia County: the Columbia County State Police (state police); the Columbia County Liquor Commission (state agency).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were St. Helens's 562 for 2025, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office's 310 for 2025 and Scappoose's 80 for 2023.
Together, the five agencies in Columbia County with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 912 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Columbia County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Columbia County serves the sentence in a facility of the Oregon Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at oregon.gov/doc/victim-services/pages/offender-search.aspx.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Columbia County?
Look on the custody page of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.columbiacountyor.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Columbia County jail?
About 140 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 180 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Columbia County go?
To a facility of the Oregon Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at oregon.gov.
Is this the official Columbia 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.