Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 1, 2026.
Dayton, Texas, in Liberty County, has about 9,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 Liberty County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Dayton public records, Liberty County arrest records, Texas arrest records and Texas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dayton
The FBI lists Dayton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dayton Police Department. It reported 137 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Liberty County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 466 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Liberty County: the Cleveland Independent School District (other).
How Many Arrests Dayton Reports
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.
- Dayton: 137 for 2025, 160 for 2024, 212 for 2023, 271 for 2022, 303 for 2021 and 303 for 2020.
Dayton's 137 arrests in 2025 were down 14 percent from 160 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Dayton reported 88 arrests, against 102 in the same months of 2025.
Across Liberty County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 699 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dayton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dayton 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 180 people on an average day, down from about 320 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 281 beds, and it is running at 63 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Liberty County Sheriff's Office at libertytxsheriff.com (page title: Liberty County Sheriff Office | Texas), phone 936-336-4500, 5345 N Main St. Liberty, TX 77575, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice lists its inmates at inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/start.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dayton
Whether someone was arrested in Dayton, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Liberty County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.liberty.tx.us/page/liberty.county.clerk, phone 936-336-4670); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.liberty.tx.us/page/liberty.district.attorney, phone 936-336-4609).
Texas is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Conviction Database search lets anyone look up convictions and deferred adjudications by name, for $3 a search, through the Texas Department of Public Safety. 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 Dayton
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Texas Public Information Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, and it may charge the copy rates set by the Attorney General, plus labor for large requests.
- An arrest by the Dayton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofdaytontx.com/government/departments/police-department/public-... (page title: Public Record Request | Dayton, TX), phone 936-258-7621, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Liberty County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 936-336-4500.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 936-336-4609, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Liberty County District Court, through the court records page at co.liberty.tx.us/page/liberty.county.clerk, phone 936-336-4670.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at libertycountytx.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
The Liberty County guide covers every agency in the county: Liberty County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dayton each year?
Dayton reported 137 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dayton?
Ask the Liberty County Sheriff's Office at 936-336-4500; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at libertytxsheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Dayton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Liberty County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dayton?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Texas Department of Public Safety: the Conviction Database search lets anyone look up convictions and deferred adjudications by name, for $3. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Texas Public Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Dayton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dayton police for its own arrests, the Liberty County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Texas Public Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at libertycountytx.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Dayton website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.