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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Rappahannock County, Virginia, has about 7,500 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 Rappahannock 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, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Rappahannock County public records, Rappahannock County arrest records, Rappahannock County warrants, Rappahannock County inmate search, Rappahannock County court records, Virginia arrest records and Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Rappahannock Circuit Court
In Virginia the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Rappahannock County are heard by the Rappahannock 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 rappahannockcountyva.gov/government/departments/clerk_of_the_circui... (page title: Rappahannock County, Virginia), phone (540) 675-5350, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Rappahannock 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 Rappahannock County
The Rappahannock County Sheriff's Office keeps the arrest records in Rappahannock 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 Rappahannock County: the Rappahannock County State Police (state police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Rappahannock County Sheriff's Office reported 88 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 Rappahannock County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Rappahannock County in 2025
The one agency in Rappahannock County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7 violent and 24 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 31 crimes in 2025 against 34 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 Rappahannock County public records guide.
The Commonwealth's Attorney for Rappahannock County
The Commonwealth's Attorney decides which arrests in Rappahannock County become charges and files them in the Rappahannock Circuit Court or the General District Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at rappahannockcountyva.gov/government/departments/commonwealths_attor... (page title: Rappahannock County, Virginia), phone (540) 675-5338, 239 Gay St., Washington, VA 22747, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Rappahannock County
Registered sex offenders living in Rappahannock 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 Rappahannock 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at rappahannockcountyva.gov/government/foia_information.php (page title: Rappahannock County, Virginia).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Rappahannock County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rappahannock 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 Rappahannock County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at rappahannockcountyva.gov (page title: Rappahannock County, Virginia). Statewide, 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.
Who prosecutes crimes in Rappahannock County?
The Commonwealth's Attorney, reached at (540) 675-5338, which files its cases in the Rappahannock Circuit Court or the General District Court.
Is this the official Rappahannock 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.