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 October 4, 2026.
Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has about 159,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and nine 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 7 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Chambersburg, 23,041 residents: 617 arrests reported for 2025.
- Waynesboro, 11,101 residents: 225 arrests reported for 2025.
- Greencastle, 4,226 residents: 24 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mercersburg, 1,493 residents: 13 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 Shippensburg Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Franklin County, so its arrests are not broken out for Franklin County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Franklin County: the Bureau of Forestry in Franklin County, the State Park Rangers at Caledonia, Forest Rangers's Michaux State Forest District 1 and the Office of Attorney General Region 2 in Franklin County (state agency); Pennsylvania State University at Mont Alto (campus police); Franklin County Drug Task Force, the Greencastle-Antrim School District and the Tuscarora School District (other); the Franklin County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin County
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.
- Chambersburg: 617 for 2025, 689 for 2024, 1,185 for 2020 and 1,194 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Washington Township: 358 for 2025, 364 for 2024, 382 for 2023, 281 for 2022, 334 for 2021 and 252 for 2020.
- Waynesboro: 225 for 2025, 257 for 2024, 284 for 2023, 253 for 2022, 239 for 2021 and 306 for 2020.
- Greencastle: 24 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 13 for 2023, 27 for 2022, 16 for 2021 and 27 for 2020.
- Mercersburg: 13 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 2 for 2023, 13 for 2022, 7 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 7 for 2025, 5 for 2024, 7 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,244 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,244 in 2025 against 1,337 in 2024, down 7 percent.
Through March 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 349 arrests, against 279 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Franklin 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 240 people, down from about 430 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 458 beds, and it ran at 53 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincountypa.gov/departments/jail (page title: Jail -Franklin County), phone 717-264-9513, 1804 Opportunity Avenue Chambersburg, PA 17201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Franklin County
An arrest in Franklin County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at franklincountypa.gov/departments/clerk-of-courts, phone 717-261-3805); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at franklincountypa.gov/departments/district-attorney, phone 717-261-3827).
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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 717-264-9513.
- An arrest in Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Greencastle or Mercersburg: 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 Bureau of Forestry in Franklin County, Pennsylvania State University at Mont Alto or the State Park Rangers at Caledonia: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 717-261-3827, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at franklincountypa.gov, phone 717-261-3805.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at franklincountypa.gov (page title: Open Records Information -Franklin County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the six cities in Franklin County: Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Greencastle and Mercersburg. Mont Alto and Orrstown have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries Washington Township Police Department, Franklin County as a city agency in Franklin County; Washington Township is not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Franklin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Chambersburg (23,041)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
Chambersburg reported 617 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,244 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at 717-264-9513; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at franklincountypa.gov/departments/jail.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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 franklincountypa.gov.
Is this the official Franklin 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.