Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026.
Highland County, Virginia, has about 2,300 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Virginia the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Court Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Virginia State Police is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Highland County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Highland County public records, Highland County arrest records, Highland County warrants, Highland County inmate search, Highland County court records, Virginia arrest records and Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Highland Circuit Court
In Virginia the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Highland County are heard by the Highland Circuit Court, which hears felonies, divorces, the larger civil cases and appeals from the district courts; the General District Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and smaller civil cases; the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court takes family and juvenile cases, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Court Clerk.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at highlandcova.org/circuit-court (page title: Circuit Court | Highland County, VA), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
The Virginia Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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 file in the Highland Circuit Court is the public record.
To see your own record, the route is a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Highland County
The Highland County Sheriff's Office keeps the arrest records in Highland County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Highland County: the Highland County State Police (state police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Highland County Sheriff's Office reported 20 arrests to the FBI for 2025; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Highland County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Highland County in 2025
The one agency in Highland County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1 violent and 18 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 19 crimes in 2025 against 19 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Highland County public records guide.
The Sex Offender Registry for Highland County
Registered sex offenders living in Highland County are listed on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry, run by the Virginia State Police. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Highland County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 5 working days, and it may charge the actual cost of searching and copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Highland County criminal cases online?
Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Virginia criminal history?
Through a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
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.