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 October 2, 2026.
Jefferson County, Oregon, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and two campus, state or other agencies. 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 Jefferson County Circuit 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: Jefferson County public records, Oregon arrest records, Oregon inmate search and Oregon criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson County. It reported 243 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Jefferson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Madras, 7,764 residents: 210 arrests reported for 2023.
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 these agencies in Jefferson County: the Jefferson County Liquor Commission (state agency); the Jefferson County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jefferson County
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.
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 243 for 2025, 259 for 2024, 231 for 2023, 195 for 2022, 196 for 2021 and 187 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Madras: 210 for 2023, 365 for 2020 and 367 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 441 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 231 in 2023 against 195 in 2022, up 18 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Jefferson County 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 55 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 160 beds, and it ran at 72 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 Jefferson County
For Jefferson County the place to look is the case index of the Jefferson 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/jefferson/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 Jefferson County
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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Madras: 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 the Jefferson County Liquor Commission or the Jefferson County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jefferson 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.
Cities in Jefferson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Jefferson County: Madras. Culver and Metolius 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 Jefferson County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jefferson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Madras (7,764)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson County each year?
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office reported 243 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Jefferson County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 441 between them.
Where are people arrested in Jefferson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson County?
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 Jefferson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Jefferson 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.