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.
Cottle County, Texas, has about 1,300 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cottle County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Cottle County District 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: Cottle County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cottle County
The Cottle County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cottle County. It reported 9 arrests for 2025.
One city in Cottle County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Paducah, 967 residents: 1,188 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cottle 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.
- Paducah: 1,188 for 2025, 1,188 for 2024, 1,187 for 2023, 1,176 for 2022, 1,168 for 2021 and 1,185 for 2020.
- Cottle County Sheriff's Office: 9 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,197 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,188 in 2025 against 1,188 in 2024.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 775 arrests, against 798 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cottle County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cottle 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.
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 Cottle County
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 Cottle 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 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 Cottle County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Paducah: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Cottle County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Paducah, the one city in Cottle County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Cottle County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cottle County each year?
Paducah reported 1,188 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,197 between them.
Where are people arrested in Cottle County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cottle County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cottle County?
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 Cottle County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cottle County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Texas Public Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Cottle 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.