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 September 30, 2026.
Mathews County, Virginia, has about 8,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mathews 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 Mathews 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Mathews County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mathews County
The Mathews County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mathews County. It reported 112 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Mathews County: the Mathews County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Mathews 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.
- Mathews County Sheriff's Office: 112 for 2025, 100 for 2024, 99 for 2023, 76 for 2022, 65 for 2021 and 96 for 2020.
The Mathews County Sheriff's Office's 112 arrests in 2025 were up 12 percent from 100 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Mathews County Sheriff's Office reported 69 arrests, against 73 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mathews County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mathews 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 37 people, up from about 36 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Mathews County Sheriff's Office at mathewscountyva.gov/232/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Mathews County, VA), phone 804-725-7177, 10622 Buckley Hall Road Suite B Mathews, VA 23109, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Mathews County
Whether someone was arrested in Mathews County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Mathews Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mathewscountyva.gov/222/Clerk-of-Circuit-Court, phone (804) 725-2550); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mathewscountyva.gov/230/Commonwealth-Attorney, phone 804-725-9212).
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 Mathews 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 Mathews County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 804-725-7177.
- An arrest by the Mathews 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, 804-725-9212, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Mathews Circuit Court, through the court records page at mathewscountyva.gov, phone (804) 725-2550.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mathewscountyva.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mathews County each year?
The Mathews County Sheriff's Office reported 112 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mathews County?
Ask the Mathews County Sheriff's Office at 804-725-7177; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mathewscountyva.gov/232/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Mathews County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mathews County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mathews County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Mathews 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 Mathews County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mathews 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mathewscountyva.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Mathews 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.