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 October 4, 2026.
Lee County, Virginia, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lee County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies 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 Lee 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: Lee County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lee County
The Lee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lee County. It reported 752 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Lee County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Pennington Gap, 1,575 residents: 108 arrests reported for 2025.
- Jonesville, 851 residents: 9 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 Lee County: the Lee County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lee County
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.
- Lee County Sheriff's Office: 752 for 2025, 644 for 2024, 707 for 2023, 825 for 2022, 688 for 2021 and 391 for 2020.
- Pennington Gap: 108 for 2025, 181 for 2024, 64 for 2023, 35 for 2022, 39 for 2021 and 63 for 2020.
- Jonesville: 9 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 13 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 39 for 2020 and 50 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 869 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 869 in 2025 against 840 in 2024, up 3.5 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lee County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Lee 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 140 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 163 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 Lee County Sheriff's Office at leecountysheriff.net (page title: LEE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE | Lee County Virginia), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
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 Lee County
Whether someone was arrested in Lee County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Lee Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at matrix.leeclerk.org); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at leecwa.com, phone 276-346-1921).
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 Lee 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 Lee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Pennington Gap or Jonesville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Lee 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, 276-346-1921, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lee Circuit Court, through the court records page at matrix.leeclerk.org.
- 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 Lee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Lee County: Pennington Gap and Jonesville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Lee Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lee County each year?
The Lee County Sheriff's Office reported 752 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 869 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lee County?
Ask the Lee County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at leecountysheriff.net.
Where are people arrested in Lee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lee County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Lee 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 Lee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lee 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 Lee 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.