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 September 28, 2026.
York County, Pennsylvania, has about 471,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the York County Sheriff's Office, 16 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 York 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: York County public records, Pennsylvania arrest records, Pennsylvania inmate search and Pennsylvania criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in York County
The York County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for York County. It reported 121 arrests for 2025.
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:
- York, 45,241 residents: 2,805 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hanover, 16,728 residents: 891 arrests reported for 2025.
- West York, 5,127 residents: 81 arrests reported for 2024.
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 York County: the Office of Attorney General Region 2 in York County, the Bureau of Forestry in York County, the State Park Rangers at Samuel S. Lewis, the State Park Rangers at Gifford Pinchot and one more (state agency); Pennsylvania State University at York and York College of Pennsylvania (campus police); County Detective in York County (other); the York County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in York County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- York: 2,805 for 2025, 3,269 for 2024, 3,612 for 2023, 2,763 for 2022, 2,152 for 2020 and 3,222 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Northern York County Regional: 2,785 for 2025, 3,099 for 2024, 3,075 for 2023 and 3,043 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- York County Regional: 1,719 for 2025, 1,852 for 2024, 1,706 for 2023 and 1,529 for 2022.
- Hanover: 891 for 2025, 937 for 2024, 884 for 2023, 1,001 for 2020 and 1,122 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Fairview Township: 672 for 2025, 651 for 2024, 871 for 2023, 554 for 2022 and 1,153 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- Southern Regional York County: 300 for 2025, 223 for 2023, 332 for 2020 and 290 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
- Lower Windsor Township: 190 for 2025, 272 for 2024, 458 for 2023 and 250 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Carroll Township: 135 for 2025 and 130 for 2020; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- York County Sheriff's Office: 121 for 2025 and 166 for 2024.
- West Manheim Township: 69 for 2025, 213 for 2023 and 120 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
- North Hopewell Township: 10 for 2025, 23 for 2024, 50 for 2023 and 33 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Springettsbury Township: 1,260 for 2024, 1,174 for 2023, 664 for 2020 and 1,376 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the 11 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,697 arrests that year. The eight of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 9,193 in 2025 against 10,269 in 2024, down 10 percent.
Newberry Township, Penn Township, Hellam Township, West York and two more reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 11 months, 11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in York County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in York 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 1,050 people, down from about 2,010 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 2,304 beds, and it ran at 45 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 York County Sheriff's Office at inmatesinjail.yorkcountygov.com/detentioncenter/inmatesinjail.aspx (page title: York County Detention Center Inmates), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 York County
Whether someone was arrested in York County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: UJS Web Portal, the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at yorkcountypa.gov/m/directory/department?did=95, phone 717-771-9600).
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 York 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 York County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in York, Hanover or West York: 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 Office of Attorney General Region 2 in York County, the Bureau of Forestry in York County or Pennsylvania State University at York: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 717-771-9600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at yorkcountypa.gov (page title: Right-to-Know Law Requests | York County, PA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in York County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 37 cities in York County: York, Hanover and West York. Red Lion, New Freedom, Dallastown, Shrewsbury, Manchester, Hallam, Dillsburg, Spring Grove, Wrightsville, North York, Stewartstown, Glen Rock and 22 more have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the York County Regional Police Department, the Lower Windsor Township Police Department, the North Hopewell Township Police Department and ten more as city agencies in York County; York County Regional, Lower Windsor Township, North Hopewell Township and ten 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 York County Court of Common Pleas.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in York County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in York County each year?
York reported 2,805 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 11 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 9,697 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in York County?
Ask the York County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at inmatesinjail.yorkcountygov.com.
Where are people arrested in York County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the York County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in York 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 York County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the York 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 yorkcountypa.gov.
Is this the official York 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.