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 24, 2026.
Grayson County, Virginia, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Grayson 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 Grayson 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: Grayson County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Grayson County
The Grayson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Grayson County. It reported 240 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Grayson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Independence, 998 residents: 14 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 Grayson County: the Grayson County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Grayson 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.
- Grayson County Sheriff's Office: 240 for 2025, 357 for 2024, 446 for 2023, 423 for 2022, 358 for 2021 and 328 for 2020.
- Independence: 14 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 8 for 2021 and 17 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 254 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 254 in 2025 against 374 in 2024, down 32 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 175 arrests, against 159 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Grayson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Grayson 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 2024 the jail held about 54 people, down from about 80 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 75 beds, and it ran at 74 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 Grayson County
Whether someone was arrested in Grayson County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 graysoncountyva.gov/161/Commonwealth-Attorney, phone 276-773-2421).
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 Grayson 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 Grayson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Independence: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Grayson 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, 276-773-2421, 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 Grayson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Grayson County: Independence. Fries and Troutdale 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 Grayson Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Grayson County each year?
The Grayson County Sheriff's Office reported 240 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 254 between them.
Where are people arrested in Grayson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Grayson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Grayson County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Grayson 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 Grayson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Grayson 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 Grayson 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.