Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Kent County, Texas, has 703 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Kent County Sheriff's Office. 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 Kent County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Kent County public records, Texas arrest records, Texas inmate search and Texas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Kent County
The Kent County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Kent County.
Arrest Counts on File for Kent County
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Kent County the counts on file are partial: Kent County Sheriff's Office has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kent County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Kent 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 2024 the jail held about 63 people, up from about 8 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 70 beds, and it ran at 91 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 Kent County Sheriff's Office at co.kent.tx.us/page/kent.Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Kent County, Texas), phone (806) 237-3801, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, whose inmate locator is at inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/start.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Kent County
An arrest in Kent County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Kent County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.kent.tx.us/page/kent.CountyClerk, phone 806.237.3881); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.kent.tx.us/page/kent.DistrictAttorney, phone 940.864.2072).
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 Kent 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 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 Kent County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (806) 237-3801.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 940.864.2072, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Kent County District Court, through the court records page at co.kent.tx.us/page/kent.CountyClerk, phone 806.237.3881.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.kent.tx.us (page title: ezTask-Bad Request).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Kent County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Kent County with an arrest reporting agency of its own.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Kent County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Kent County?
Ask the Kent County Sheriff's Office at (806) 237-3801; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.kent.tx.us/page/kent.Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Kent County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kent County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Kent 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 Kent County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Kent 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.kent.tx.us.
Is this the official Kent 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.