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 30, 2026.
Amelia County, Virginia, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Amelia County Sheriff's Office and one state 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 Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Amelia 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Amelia County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Amelia County
The Amelia County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Amelia County. It reported 249 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Amelia County: the Amelia County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Amelia County Sheriff's Office 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.
- Amelia County Sheriff's Office: 249 for 2025, 259 for 2024, 182 for 2023, 186 for 2022, 198 for 2021 and 211 for 2020.
The Amelia County Sheriff's Office's 249 arrests in 2025 were down 3.9 percent from 259 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Amelia County Sheriff's Office reported 151 arrests, against 144 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Amelia County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Amelia 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 2024 the jail held about 60 people, down from about 63 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 39 beds, and it ran at 115 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 Amelia County Sheriff's Office at ameliacova.com/departments/sheriff/index.php (page title: Amelia County, VA), phone 804-561-2118, 16441 Court Street Amelia, VA 23002, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Virginia Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Amelia County
Whether someone was arrested in Amelia County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: Online Case Information System, the Virginia courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ameliacova.com/departments/commonwealth_s_attorney/index.php, phone 804-561-3302).
Virginia does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Virginia State Police goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Amelia 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 Virginia Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 working days, and it may charge the actual cost of searching and copying.
- An arrest by the Amelia County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 804-561-2118.
- An arrest by the Amelia County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, 804-561-3302, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ameliacova.com (page title: Amelia County, VA).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Amelia County each year?
The Amelia County Sheriff's Office reported 249 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Amelia County?
Ask the Amelia County Sheriff's Office at 804-561-2118; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ameliacova.com/departments/sheriff/index.php.
Where are people arrested in Amelia County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Amelia County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Amelia County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Amelia Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Virginia State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Amelia County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Amelia County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 working days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ameliacova.com.
Is this the official Amelia 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.