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.
Highland County, Virginia, has about 2,300 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Highland County Sheriff's Office 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 Highland 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: Highland County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Highland County
The Highland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Highland County. It reported 20 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Highland County: the Highland County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Highland County Sheriff's Office Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Highland County Sheriff's Office: 20 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 22 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 20 for 2021 and 18 for 2020.
Through July 2026, Highland County Sheriff's Office reported 7 arrests, against 11 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Highland County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Highland 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 6 people, down from about 9 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 4 beds, and it ran at 155 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 Highland County Sheriff's Office at highlandcova.org/sheriff%E2%80%99s-office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Highland County, VA), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Virginia Department of Corrections lists its inmates at vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Highland County
For Highland County the place to look is Online Case Information System, the Virginia courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Highland 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 Highland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by the Highland County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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 Highland County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Highland County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Highland Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Highland County each year?
The Highland County Sheriff's Office reported 20 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Highland County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Highland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Highland County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Highland 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 Highland County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Highland 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 Highland 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.