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 9, 2026.
Tazewell County, Virginia, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and two campus, state or other agencies. 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 Tazewell 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: Tazewell County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Tazewell County
The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Tazewell County. It reported 649 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Richlands, 5,074 residents: 263 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bluefield, 4,871 residents: 315 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tazewell, 4,302 residents: 129 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cedar Bluff, 1,014 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pocahontas, 262 residents: 2 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 these agencies in Tazewell County: Southwest Virginia Community College (campus police); the Tazewell County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Tazewell County
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.
- Tazewell County Sheriff's Office: 649 for 2025, 628 for 2024, 813 for 2023, 649 for 2022, 553 for 2021 and 554 for 2020.
- Bluefield: 315 for 2025, 408 for 2024, 493 for 2023, 543 for 2022, 478 for 2021 and 465 for 2020.
- Richlands: 263 for 2025, 238 for 2024, 197 for 2023, 233 for 2022, 264 for 2021 and 327 for 2020.
- Tazewell: 129 for 2025, 162 for 2024, 169 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 148 for 2021 and 198 for 2020.
- Cedar Bluff: 11 for 2025, 8 for 2020 and 10 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Pocahontas: 2 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 0 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 2 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,369 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,358 in 2025 against 1,438 in 2024, down 5.6 percent.
Through April 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 486 arrests, against 483 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Tazewell County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Tazewell 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 140 people, down from about 330 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 291 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 Tazewell County Sheriff's Office at tazewellcountyva.org/government/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Tazewell County, Virginia), phone 276-988-5970, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Tazewell County
Whether someone was arrested in Tazewell County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Tazewell Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at vacourts.gov/courts/circuit/tazewell/home, phone (276) 385-1200); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tazewellcountyva.org/government/commonwealth-attorney, phone (276) 385-1240).
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 Tazewell 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 Tazewell County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 276-988-5970.
- An arrest in Richlands, Bluefield, Tazewell, Cedar Bluff or Pocahontas: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Southwest Virginia Community College or the Tazewell 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) 385-1240, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Tazewell Circuit Court, through the court records page at vacourts.gov/courts/circuit/tazewell/home, phone (276) 385-1200.
- 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 Tazewell County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI and divorce records.
Cities in Tazewell County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the five cities in Tazewell County: Richlands, Bluefield, Tazewell, Cedar Bluff and Pocahontas.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Tazewell Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Tazewell County each year?
The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office reported 649 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,369 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Tazewell County?
Ask the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office at 276-988-5970; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at tazewellcountyva.org.
Where are people arrested in Tazewell County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Tazewell County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Tazewell 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 Tazewell County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Tazewell 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 Tazewell 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.