Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Amherst County, Virginia, has about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Virginia the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Court Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Virginia State Police is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Amherst County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Amherst County public records, Amherst County arrest records, Amherst County warrants, Amherst County inmate search, Amherst County court records, Virginia arrest records and Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Amherst Circuit Court
In Virginia the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Amherst County are heard by the Amherst Circuit Court, which hears felonies, divorces, the larger civil cases and appeals from the district courts; the General District Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and smaller civil cases; the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court takes family and juvenile cases, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Court Clerk.
For Amherst County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at countyofamherst.com/department/division.php?structureid=58 (page title: Clerk's Office | Amherst County, Virginia), phone (434) 946-9321, 113 Taylor St, Amherst, VA 24521, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
The Virginia Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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 file in the Amherst Circuit Court is the public record.
To see your own record, the route is a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Amherst County
The Amherst County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Amherst keep the arrest records in Amherst County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Amherst County: the Amherst County State Police (state police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Amherst County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 478 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Amherst County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Amherst County in 2025
The two agencies in Amherst County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 73 violent and 257 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 330 crimes in 2025 against 391 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Amherst County public records guide.
The Commonwealth's Attorney for Amherst County
Charges in Amherst County are filed by the Commonwealth's Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Amherst Circuit Court or the General District Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at countyofamherst.com/department/index.php?structureid=5 (page title: Commonwealth's Attorney | Amherst County, Virginia), phone (434) 946-9316, 113 Taylor St, Amherst, VA 24521, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Amherst County
Registered sex offenders living in Amherst County are listed on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry, run by the Virginia State Police. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Amherst County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 5 working days, and it may charge the actual cost of searching and copying. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofamherst.com/topic/index.php?topicid=18&structureid=3 (page title: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) | Amherst County, Virginia).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Amherst County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Amherst 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.
Can I search Amherst County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at countyofamherst.com (page title: Clerk's Office | Amherst County, Virginia). Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Virginia criminal history?
Through a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Who prosecutes crimes in Amherst County?
The Commonwealth's Attorney, reached at (434) 946-9316, which files its cases in the Amherst Circuit Court or the General District Court.
Is this the official Amherst 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.