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.
Dickenson County, Virginia, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dickenson 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 Dickenson 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: Dickenson County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dickenson County
The Dickenson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dickenson County. It reported 329 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Dickenson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Clintwood, 1,313 residents: 31 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 Dickenson County: the Dickenson County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Dickenson 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.
- Dickenson County Sheriff's Office: 329 for 2025, 340 for 2024, 336 for 2023, 333 for 2022, 377 for 2021 and 448 for 2020.
- Clintwood: 31 for 2025, 43 for 2024, 46 for 2021, 19 for 2020 and 42 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 360 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 360 in 2025 against 383 in 2024, down 6 percent.
Through May 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 108 arrests, against 144 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dickenson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dickenson 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 2025 the jail held about 310 people, up from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 99 beds, and it ran at 94 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 Dickenson County Sheriff's Office at dickensonva.org/115/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Dickenson County, VA), phone (276) 926-1600, 293 Clintwood Main Street P.O. Box 339 Clintwood, VA 24228, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 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 Dickenson County
Whether someone was arrested in Dickenson County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Dickenson Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at vacourts.gov/courts/combined/dickenson/home, phone (276) 926-1630); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dickensonva.org/114/Commonwealths-Attorney, phone 276-365-6214).
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 Dickenson 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 Dickenson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (276) 926-1600.
- An arrest in Clintwood: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Dickenson 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, 276-365-6214, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dickenson Circuit Court, through the court records page at vacourts.gov/courts/combined/dickenson/home, phone (276) 926-1630.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dickensonva.org (page title: Rights & Responsibilities: The Rights of Requesters and the Responsibilities of).
- 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 Dickenson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Dickenson County: Clintwood. Haysi and Clinchco have 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 Dickenson Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dickenson County each year?
The Dickenson County Sheriff's Office reported 329 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 360 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dickenson County?
Ask the Dickenson County Sheriff's Office at (276) 926-1600; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dickensonva.org/115/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Dickenson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dickenson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dickenson County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Dickenson 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 Dickenson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dickenson 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 dickensonva.org.
Is this the official Dickenson 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.