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 9, 2026.
Potter County, Pennsylvania, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by three 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 Potter 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: Potter County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Potter County
The Sheriff's Office is the county law enforcement agency of Potter County.
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:
- Coudersport, 2,310 residents: 34 arrests reported for 2024.
- Shinglehouse, 1,068 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- Galeton, 955 residents: 18 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 Potter County: Forest Rangers's Susquehannock State Forest District 15, the State Park Rangers at Ole Bull, the Bureau of Forestry in Potter County, the Office of Attorney General Region 2 in Potter County and one more (state agency); the Potter County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Potter 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.
- Galeton: 18 for 2025, 24 for 2024 and 0 for 2023.
- Shinglehouse: 11 for 2025, 35 for 2024, 11 for 2023 and 13 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Coudersport: 34 for 2024, 52 for 2023 and 74 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 29 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 29 in 2025 against 59 in 2024, down 51 percent.
Coudersport reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Potter County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Potter 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 36 people, down from about 58 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 73 beds, and it ran at 49 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 pottercountypa.gov/departments/sheriff.php (page title: Potter County), phone (814) 274-9350, Mon - Fri 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Potter County
Whether someone was arrested in Potter County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Potter 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 pottercountypa.gov/departments/district_attorney.php, phone 814-274-9450).
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 Potter 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 Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (814) 274-9350.
- An arrest in Coudersport, Shinglehouse or Galeton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Forest Rangers's Susquehannock State Forest District 15, the State Park Rangers at Ole Bull or the Bureau of Forestry in Potter County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 814-274-9450, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Potter 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 pottercountypa.gov (page title: Potter County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Potter County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Potter County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the six cities in Potter County: Coudersport, Shinglehouse and Galeton. Ulysses, Austin and Oswayo have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Potter County Court of Common Pleas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Potter County each year?
Galeton reported 18 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 29 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Potter County?
Ask the Sheriff's Office at (814) 274-9350; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at pottercountypa.gov/departments/sheriff.php.
Where are people arrested in Potter County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Potter 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 Potter County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the 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 pottercountypa.gov.
Is this the official Potter 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.