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 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Elk County, Pennsylvania, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Elk County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and four 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 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 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: Elk County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Elk County
The Elk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Elk County. It reported 0 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- St. Marys, 12,361 residents: 250 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ridgway, 3,930 residents: 100 arrests reported for 2025.
- Johnsonburg, 2,318 residents: 137 arrests reported for 2025.
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 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 Each Agency Reports in Elk 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.
- 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.
- Johnsonburg: 137 for 2025, 162 for 2024 and 251 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Ridgway: 100 for 2025 and 137 for 2024.
- Elk County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 487 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 487 in 2025 against 517 in 2024, down 5.8 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 280 arrests, against 265 in the same months of 2025.
Elk County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (6 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Elk County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Elk County 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 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 Elk County
An arrest in Elk County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 Elk 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 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 Elk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (814) 776-5353.
- An arrest in St. Marys, Ridgway or Johnsonburg: 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 Elk County State Police, the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Elk County or the Bureau of Forestry in Elk County: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Elk County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Elk County: St. Marys, Ridgway and Johnsonburg.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Elk County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Elk County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- St. Marys (12,361)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Elk County each year?
St. Marys reported 250 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 487 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Elk County?
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 Elk County 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 Elk County?
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 Elk County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Elk County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Elk 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.