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 23, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in Adams County, has about 8,600 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 Adams County Court of Common Pleas. 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: Gettysburg public records, Adams County arrest records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Gettysburg
The FBI lists Gettysburg with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Gettysburg 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 Adams County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 0 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Adams County: the Bureau of Forestry in Adams County and the Office of Attorney General Region 2 in Adams County (state agency); County Detective in Adams County, Adams County Drug Task Force and the Gettsyburg Area School District (other); the Adams County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Gettysburg 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.
- Gettysburg: 347 for 2025 and 357 for 2023; 2024 is missing months.
Through July 2026, Gettysburg reported 140 arrests, against 236 in the same months of 2025.
Across Adams County, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 656 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gettysburg Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Gettysburg 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 210 people, up from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 285 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 Pennsylvania Department of Corrections lists its inmates at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Gettysburg
Whether someone was arrested in Gettysburg, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Adams County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at adamscountypa.gov/departments/clerkoforphanscourt/case-search, phone 724-656-3100); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at adamscountypa.gov/departments/districtattorney, phone 717-337-9840).
Statewide, UJS Web Portal is the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search.
Pennsylvania is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22 a search, through the Pennsylvania 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 Gettysburg
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Right-to-Know Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the Gettysburg police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at gettysburgpa.gov/270/Police-DepartmentPublic-Safety (page title: Police Department/Public Safety | Gettysburg, PA), phone 717.334.1168, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Adams County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 717-337-9840, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Adams County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at adamscountypa.gov, phone 724-656-3100.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Adams County guide covers every agency in the county: Adams County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gettysburg each year?
Gettysburg reported 347 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Gettysburg booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Adams County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gettysburg?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Pennsylvania State Police: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Right-to-Know Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Gettysburg?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gettysburg police for its own arrests, the Adams County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Right-to-Know Law the answer is due within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension.
Is this the official Gettysburg 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.