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.
McKean County, Pennsylvania, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by seven city agencies and six 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 McKean 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: McKean County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in McKean County
The FBI lists five cities in McKean County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Bradford (township), 7,538 residents: 51 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bradford, 7,538 residents: 273 arrests reported for 2024.
- Kane, 3,489 residents: 103 arrests reported for 2023.
- Port Allegany, 2,054 residents: 22 arrests reported for 2025.
- Smethport, 1,380 residents: 15 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 McKean County: County Detective in McKean County and the Port Allegany Schools (other); the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (campus police); the Bureau of Forestry in McKean County and the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in McKean County (state agency); the McKean County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in McKean 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.
- Foster Township: 66 for 2025, 114 for 2024, 185 for 2023 and 74 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Bradford (township): 51 for 2025, 33 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 42 for 2020 and 43 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Port Allegany: 22 for 2025, 25 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 8 for 2022 and 53 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Smethport: 15 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 28 for 2020 and 25 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Otto Township: 0 for 2025 and 25 for 2024.
- Bradford: 273 for 2024, 330 for 2023 and 446 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Kane: 103 for 2023 and 188 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 154 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 154 in 2025 against 198 in 2024, down 22 percent.
Bradford and Kane reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in McKean County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in McKean 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 81 people, up from about 79 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 106 beds, and it ran at 76 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 at mckeancountypa.gov/departments/sheriffs_office/index.php (page title: Welcome to McKean County PA), phone 888-836-1950, 17013 Route 6 Smethport, PA 16749, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 McKean County
An arrest in McKean County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the McKean County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mckeancountypa.gov/government/courts/index.php); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mckeancountypa.gov/government/other_elected_officials/district_atto..., phone 814-887-3312).
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 McKean 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 in Bradford (township), Bradford, Kane, Port Allegany or Smethport: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by County Detective in McKean County, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford or the Port Allegany Schools: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 814-887-3312, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the McKean County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at mckeancountypa.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in McKean County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the seven cities in McKean County: Bradford (township), Bradford, Kane, Port Allegany and Smethport. Mount Jewett, Eldred and Lewis Run have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries Foster Township Police Department, McKean County and the Otto Township Police Department as city agencies in McKean County; Foster Township and Otto Township 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 McKean County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in McKean County each year?
Foster Township reported 66 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 154 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in McKean County?
Ask the sheriff's office at 888-836-1950; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mckeancountypa.gov.
Where are people arrested in McKean County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in McKean 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 McKean County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the sheriff's office or the city's police. Under the Right-to-Know Law the answer is due within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension.
Is this the official McKean 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.