Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 9, 2026.
Roanoke County, Virginia, has about 97,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 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 Roanoke Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Roanoke County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Roanoke County
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Roanoke County: the Roanoke County State Police (state police).
Booking: Where People Arrested in Roanoke County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Roanoke 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 2025 the jail held about 700 people, up from about 360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 200 beds, and it ran at 141 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the sheriff's office at inmateinquiry.roanokecountyva.gov/Roanoke (page title: Roanoke Inmate Search), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Roanoke County
Whether someone was arrested in Roanoke County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the sheriff's office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Roanoke Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at roanokecountyva.gov/447/Search-Court-Cases-Online); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at roanokecountyva.gov/2555/Commonwealths-Attorney, phone 540-387-6174).
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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke 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, 540-387-6174, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Roanoke Circuit Court, through the court records page at roanokecountyva.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at roanokecountyva.gov (page title: Request Public Records | Roanoke County, VA).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
The other Roanoke County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Roanoke County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Roanoke County with an arrest reporting agency of its own.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Roanoke Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Roanoke County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Vinton (8,059)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Roanoke County?
Look on the custody page of the sheriff's office at inmateinquiry.roanokecountyva.gov/Roanoke. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Roanoke County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Roanoke County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Roanoke 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 Roanoke County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the sheriff's office or the city's police. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 working days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at roanokecountyva.gov.
Is this the official Roanoke 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.