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 October 4, 2026.
Clarke County, Virginia, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clarke 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 Clarke 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: Clarke County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clarke County
The Clarke County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clarke County. It reported 192 arrests for 2025.
One city in Clarke County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Berryville, 4,819 residents: 15 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 Clarke County: the Clarke County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clarke 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.
- Clarke County Sheriff's Office: 192 for 2025, 171 for 2024, 157 for 2023, 166 for 2022, 153 for 2021 and 188 for 2020.
- Berryville: 15 for 2025, 41 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 37 for 2022, 28 for 2021 and 58 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 207 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 207 in 2025 against 212 in 2024, down 2.4 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 187 arrests, against 128 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clarke County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clarke 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 44 people, down from about 46 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 62 beds, and it ran at 67 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 Clarke County Sheriff's Office at clarkecounty.gov/government/sheriff-s-office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Clarke County, VA), phone (540) 955-1234, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Clarke County
Whether someone was arrested in Clarke County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Clarke Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at clarkecounty.gov/government/court-system/circuit-court, phone (540) 955-5136); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at clarkecounty.gov/government/court-system/commonwealth-s-attorney, phone (540) 955-5120).
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 Clarke 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 Clarke County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (540) 955-1234.
- An arrest in Berryville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Clarke 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, (540) 955-5120, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clarke Circuit Court, through the court records page at clarkecounty.gov, phone (540) 955-5136.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at clarkecounty.gov (page title: Submit a FOIA Request | Clarke 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.
Cities in Clarke County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Clarke County: Berryville. Boyce has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Clarke Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clarke County each year?
The Clarke County Sheriff's Office reported 192 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 207 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clarke County?
Ask the Clarke County Sheriff's Office at (540) 955-1234; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at clarkecounty.gov/government/sheriff-s-office.
Where are people arrested in Clarke County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clarke County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clarke County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Clarke 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 Clarke County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clarke 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 clarkecounty.gov.
Is this the official Clarke 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.