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 2024. 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 25, 2026.
State College, Pennsylvania, in Centre County, has about 41,000 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 Centre 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: State College public records, Centre County arrest records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in State College
The FBI lists State College with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as State College Police Department. It reported 1,114 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year. 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 Centre County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 5 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Centre County: Pennsylvania State University at University Park (campus police); the State Park Rangers at Bald Eagle, the State Park Rangers at Black Moshannon, the Bureau of Forestry in Centre County and the Office of Attorney General Region 2 in Centre County (state agency); the Centre County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests State College Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- State College: 1,114 for 2024 and 1,214 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Across Centre County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 518 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in State College Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in State College 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 190 people, down from about 250 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 397 beds, and it ran at 48 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Centre County Sheriff's Office at centrecountypa.gov/232/Inmate-Listing (page title: Inmate Listing | Centre County, PA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 State College
Whether someone was arrested in State College, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Centre County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at civil.centrecountypa.gov/courts.civil.portal/CaseSearch); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at centrecountypa.gov/366/District-Attorney, phone (814) 355-6735).
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 State College
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 State College police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at statecollegepa.us/police-recordsreport-requests (page title: Police Records/Report Requests | State College, PA), phone (814) 234-7150, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Centre County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (814) 355-6735, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at civil.centrecountypa.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at centrecountypa.gov/166/Open-Records-Request (page title: Open Records Request | Centre County, PA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Centre County guide covers every agency in the county: Centre County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in State College each year?
State College reported 1,114 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in State College?
Look on the custody page of the Centre County Sheriff's Office at centrecountypa.gov/232/Inmate-Listing. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in State College booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Centre County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in State College?
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 State College?
From the agency that made the arrest: the State College police for its own arrests, the Centre 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 centrecountypa.gov/166/Open-Records-Request.
Is this the official State College 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.