Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 October 4, 2026.
Forest County, Pennsylvania, has about 6,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 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 Forest County Court of Common Pleas. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Forest County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Forest County
The Sheriff's Office - Forest County Pennsylvania is the county law enforcement agency of Forest County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Forest County: the Forest Area School District (other); the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Forest County and the Bureau of Forestry in Forest County (state agency); the Tionesta State Police (state police).
Booking: Where People Arrested in Forest County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Forest 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 16 people, down from about 22 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 24 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Sheriff's Office - Forest County Pennsylvania at co.forest.pa.us/departments/sheriff.php (page title: Welcome to Forest County Pennsylvania), phone (814) 755-3541, 526 Elm Street, Box 9 Tionesta, PA 16353, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Forest County
Whether someone was arrested in Forest County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Forest County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.forest.pa.us/departments/clerk_of_courts.php, phone (814) 755-3526); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.forest.pa.us/government/district_attorney.php, phone (814) 755-3164).
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 Forest County
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 Sheriff's Office - Forest County Pennsylvania: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (814) 755-3541.
- An arrest by the Forest Area School District, the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Forest County or the Tionesta State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (814) 755-3164, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Forest County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at co.forest.pa.us, phone (814) 755-3526.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.forest.pa.us (page title: Welcome to Forest County Pennsylvania).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Forest County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Forest County with an arrest reporting agency of its own.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Forest County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Forest County?
Ask the Sheriff's Office - Forest County Pennsylvania at (814) 755-3541; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.forest.pa.us/departments/sheriff.php.
Where are people arrested in Forest County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sheriff's Office - Forest County Pennsylvania; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Forest 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 Forest County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sheriff's Office - Forest County Pennsylvania 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 co.forest.pa.us.
Is this the official Forest 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.