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 30, 2026.
St. Marys, Pennsylvania, in Elk 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 Elk 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: St. Marys public records, Elk County arrest records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in St. Marys
The FBI lists St. Marys with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as St. Marys City Police Department. It reported 250 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 Elk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 0 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Elk County: the Elk County State Police (state police); the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Elk County, the Bureau of Forestry in Elk County and the State Park Rangers at Bendigo (state agency).
How Many Arrests St. Marys 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.
- St. Marys: 250 for 2025, 218 for 2024, 265 for 2023, 219 for 2022, 519 for 2020 and 491 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
St. Marys's 250 arrests in 2025 were up 15 percent from 218 in 2024.
Through July 2026, St. Marys reported 115 arrests, against 138 in the same months of 2025.
Across Elk County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 487 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in St. Marys Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in St. Marys 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 51 people, down from about 73 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 78 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Elk County Sheriff's Office at countyofelkpa.gov/elk-county-offices/elk-county-sheriffs-office/abo... (page title: About the Sheriff | Elk County), phone (814) 776-5353, 250 Main Street - P.O. Box 336 Ridgway, PA 15853, Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in St. Marys
Whether someone was arrested in St. Marys, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Elk County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ujsportal.pacourts.us/casesearch); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at countyofelkpa.gov/elk-county-offices/district-attorney, phone (814) 776-5325).
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 St. Marys
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 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 St. Marys police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at stmaryspa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/4.11-Right-to-Know-Request... (page title: City of St. Marys Police Department 319 Erie Ave. St. Marys, PA 15857), 319 Erie Ave. St. Marys, PA 15857, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Elk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (814) 776-5353.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (814) 776-5325, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Elk County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at ujsportal.pacourts.us/casesearch.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofelkpa.gov/office-of-open-records (page title: Office of Open Records | Elk County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Elk County guide covers every agency in the county: Elk County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in St. Marys each year?
St. Marys reported 250 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in St. Marys?
Ask the Elk County Sheriff's Office at (814) 776-5353; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at countyofelkpa.gov.
Where are people arrested in St. Marys booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Elk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in St. Marys?
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 St. Marys?
From the agency that made the arrest: the St. Marys police for its own arrests, the Elk 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofelkpa.gov/office-of-open-records.
Is this the official St. Marys 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.