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 28, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Essex County, Virginia, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Essex 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 Essex 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: Essex County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Essex County
The Essex County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Essex County. It reported 51 arrests for 2025.
One city in Essex County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Tappahannock, 2,199 residents: 116 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 Essex County: the Essex County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Essex 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.
- Tappahannock: 116 for 2025, 152 for 2024, 161 for 2023, 99 for 2022, 195 for 2020 and 134 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Essex County Sheriff's Office: 51 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 53 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 54 for 2021 and 71 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 167 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 167 in 2025 against 197 in 2024, down 15 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 119 arrests, against 93 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Essex County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Essex 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 50 people, up from about 49 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Essex County Sheriff's Office at essexva.gov/1215/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Essex County, VA), phone 804-443-3347, 304 Prince Street Tappahannock, VA 22560, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Essex County
An arrest in Essex County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 essexva.gov/1216/Commonwealths-Attorney, phone 804-443-6599).
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 Essex 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 Essex County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 804-443-3347.
- An arrest in Tappahannock: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Essex 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, 804-443-6599, handles discovery for pending cases.
- 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 Essex County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Tappahannock, the one city in Essex County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Essex Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Essex County each year?
Tappahannock reported 116 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 167 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Essex County?
Ask the Essex County Sheriff's Office at 804-443-3347; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at essexva.gov/1215/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Essex County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Essex County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Essex County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Essex 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 Essex County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Essex 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 Essex 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.