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 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
York County, South Carolina, has about 303,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the York County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and eight 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 Solicitor files charges, a case in the York County Circuit Court. 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, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina 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 2,213 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Rock Hill, 75,798 residents: 2,809 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fort Mill, 36,244 residents: 159 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tega Cay, 14,294 residents: 177 arrests reported for 2025.
- York, 9,830 residents: 451 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clover, 7,558 residents: 188 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 York County: Winthrop University and York Technical College (campus police); the York County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in York County, York County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the York County Forestry Commission and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in York County (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.
- Rock Hill: 2,809 for 2025, 2,875 for 2024, 2,980 for 2023, 2,874 for 2022, 2,813 for 2021 and 3,180 for 2020.
- York County Sheriff's Office: 2,213 for 2025, 2,448 for 2024, 2,425 for 2023, 2,833 for 2022, 3,068 for 2021 and 1,877 for 2020.
- York: 451 for 2025, 528 for 2024, 663 for 2023, 534 for 2021, 586 for 2020 and 739 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Clover: 188 for 2025, 256 for 2024, 255 for 2023, 280 for 2022, 362 for 2021 and 264 for 2020.
- Tega Cay: 177 for 2025, 189 for 2024, 213 for 2023, 247 for 2022, 427 for 2021 and 286 for 2020.
- Fort Mill: 159 for 2025, 199 for 2024, 244 for 2023, 286 for 2022, 254 for 2021 and 201 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,997 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,997 in 2025 against 6,495 in 2024, down 7.7 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,808 arrests, against 3,495 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in York County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in York 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 480 people, down from about 520 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 377 beds, and it ran at 127 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 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the South Carolina Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in York County
South Carolina is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25 a search, through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. 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
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old, and it may charge search, retrieval and copying at the agency's actual cost.
- An arrest by the York County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay, York or Clover: 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 Winthrop University, York Technical College or the York County State Transport Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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 five of the nine cities in York County: Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay, York and Clover. Sharon, Hickory Grove, McConnells and Smyrna 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 York County Circuit Court.
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?
Rock Hill reported 2,809 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,997 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 South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
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 South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old.
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.