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 on September 23, 2026.
Buchanan County, Virginia, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Buchanan 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, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Buchanan County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Buchanan County
The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Buchanan County. It reported 409 arrests for 2025.
One city in Buchanan County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Grundy, 820 residents: 145 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Buchanan County: the Buchanan County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Buchanan County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Buchanan County Sheriff's Office: 409 for 2025, 703 for 2024, 588 for 2023, 661 for 2022, 747 for 2021 and 610 for 2020.
- Grundy: 145 for 2025, 138 for 2024, 142 for 2023, 88 for 2022, 136 for 2021 and 88 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 554 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 145 in 2025 against 138 in 2024, up 5.1 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 327 arrests, against 371 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Buchanan County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Buchanan 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 130 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 143 beds, and it ran at 94 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Buchanan County
For Buchanan County the place to look is the case index of the Buchanan Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at vacourts.gov/courts/circuit/buchanan/home, phone (276) 935-6567).
Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
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 Buchanan 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 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 Buchanan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Grundy: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Buchanan County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Buchanan Circuit Court, through the court records page at vacourts.gov/courts/circuit/buchanan/home, phone (276) 935-6567.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Cities in Buchanan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Grundy, the one city in Buchanan County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Buchanan Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Buchanan County each year?
The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office reported 409 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 554 between them.
Where are people arrested in Buchanan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Buchanan County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Buchanan 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 Buchanan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Buchanan 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.
Is this the official Buchanan 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.