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 2, 2026.
Sussex County, Virginia, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sussex 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 Sussex 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: Sussex County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sussex County
The Sussex County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sussex County. It reported 186 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Sussex County: the Sussex County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Sussex County Sheriff's Office Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Sussex County Sheriff's Office: 186 for 2025, 132 for 2024, 158 for 2023, 124 for 2022, 92 for 2021 and 103 for 2020.
The Sussex County Sheriff's Office's 186 arrests in 2025 were up 41 percent from 132 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Sussex County Sheriff's Office reported 125 arrests, against 115 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sussex County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Sussex 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 2025 the jail held about 31 people, down from about 46 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 28 beds, and it ran at 163 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 Sussex County Sheriff's Office at sussexcountyva.gov/department/sheriffs-department (page title: Sheriff's Department | SUSSEX COUNTY, VIRGINIA), phone 434-597-4400, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Sussex County
An arrest in Sussex County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Sussex Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sussexcountyva.gov/department/general-district-court, phone (434) 246-1096); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sussexcountyva.gov/department/commonwealths-attorney, phone 434-246-1000).
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 Sussex 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 Sussex County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 434-597-4400.
- An arrest by the Sussex 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, 434-246-1000, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sussex Circuit Court, through the court records page at sussexcountyva.gov, phone (434) 246-1096.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sussexcountyva.gov/government/foia-rights (page title: FOIA Rights | SUSSEX COUNTY, VIRGINIA).
- 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 Sussex County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Sussex County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Sussex Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sussex County each year?
The Sussex County Sheriff's Office reported 186 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sussex County?
Ask the Sussex County Sheriff's Office at 434-597-4400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sussexcountyva.gov.
Where are people arrested in Sussex County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sussex County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sussex County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Sussex 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 Sussex County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sussex 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 sussexcountyva.gov/government/foia-rights.
Is this the official Sussex 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.