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 on September 23, 2026.
Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, 14 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 Lawrence 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: Lawrence County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lawrence County
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lawrence County. It reported 0 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists six cities in Lawrence County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- New Castle, 21,332 residents: 1,018 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ellwood City, 7,416 residents: 112 arrests reported for 2024.
- New Wilmington, 2,089 residents: 21 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Beaver, 1,342 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bessemer, 1,043 residents: 12 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wampum, 542 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Lawrence County: the Bureau of Forestry in Lawrence County and the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Lawrence County (state agency); the Lawrence County State Police (state police); County Detective in Lawrence County (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lawrence 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.
- New Castle: 1,018 for 2025.
- Shenango Township: 61 for 2025, 58 for 2023 and 92 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
- Union Township: 49 for 2025, 57 for 2024, 207 for 2020 and 102 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- New Wilmington: 21 for 2025, 34 for 2024, 39 for 2020 and 51 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Neshannock Township: 18 for 2025, 24 for 2024 and 68 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Bessemer: 12 for 2025, 17 for 2024 and 27 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Pulaski Township: 8 for 2025, 11 for 2024 and 27 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2025 and 0 for 2024.
- New Beaver: 0 for 2025 and 0 for 2024.
- Mahoning Township: 0 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 12 for 2020 and 9 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Little Beaver Township: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 0 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- North Beaver: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 3 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,187 arrests that year. The ten of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 108 in 2025 against 146 in 2024, down 26 percent.
Wampum, Wayne Township and Ellwood City reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 10 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lawrence County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lawrence 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 140 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 307 beds, and it ran at 45 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Lawrence County
An arrest in Lawrence County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lawrencecountypa.gov/courts/central-courts, phone (724) 656-2290); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lawrencecountydistrictattorneysoffice.com, phone (855) 918-6476).
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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in New Castle, Ellwood City, New Wilmington, New Beaver, Bessemer or Wampum: 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 Lawrence County, the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Lawrence County or the Lawrence County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (855) 918-6476, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at lawrencecountypa.gov/courts/central-courts, phone (724) 656-2290.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lawrencecountypa.gov (page title: Lawrence County | Right to Know).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lawrence County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the 11 cities in Lawrence County: New Castle, Ellwood City, New Wilmington, New Beaver, Bessemer and Wampum. Ellport, South New Castle, Enon Valley, Volant and S.N.P.J. have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries Pulaski Township Police Department, Lawrence County, Shenango Township Police Department, Lawrence County, Mahoning Township Police Department, Lawrence County and five more as city agencies in Lawrence County; Pulaski Township, Shenango Township, Mahoning Township and five more are 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 Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Lawrence County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- New Castle (21,332)
- Ellwood City (7,416)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lawrence County each year?
New Castle reported 1,018 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 12 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,187 between them.
Where are people arrested in Lawrence County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lawrence 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 lawrencecountypa.gov.
Is this the official Lawrence 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.