Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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.
Kennewick, Washington, in Benton County, has about 87,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Benton County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Kennewick public records, Benton County arrest records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Kennewick
The FBI lists Kennewick with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Kennewick Police Department. It reported 2,496 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Benton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 301 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Kennewick 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.
- Kennewick: 2,496 for 2025, 2,234 for 2024, 1,576 for 2023, 1,750 for 2022, 2,066 for 2021 and 2,180 for 2020.
Kennewick's 2,496 arrests in 2025 were up 12 percent from 2,234 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Kennewick reported 1,084 arrests, against 1,257 in the same months of 2025.
Across Benton County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,460 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kennewick Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kennewick 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 2023 the jail held about 420 people, down from about 630 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 720 beds, and it ran at 58 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 Benton County Sheriff's Office at bentoncountywa.gov/departments/administration/corrections/daily_jai... (page title: Benton County, WA), phone 509-783-1451, 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Washington State Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.wa.gov/records/incarcerated-data-search/incarcerated-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Kennewick
An arrest in Kennewick can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Benton County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Benton County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at bentoncountywa.gov/departments/courts_and_judicial_services/distric..., phone 855-873-9709); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bentoncountywa.gov/government/elected_officials/prosecuting_attorne..., phone 509-735-3591).
Statewide, Washington Courts Search Case Records is the Administrative Office of the Courts' free statewide case search.
Washington is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12 a search, through the Washington State Patrol. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Kennewick
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge for copies at 15 cents a page, and set fees for electronic records.
- An arrest by the Kennewick police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at go2kennewick.com/1573/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Kennewick, WA), phone (509) 585-4578, 210 W 6th Ave - P.O. Box 6108 Kennewick, WA 99336, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Benton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 509-783-1451.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 509-735-3591, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Benton County Superior Court, through the court records page at bentoncountywa.gov, phone 855-873-9709.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bentoncountywa.gov (page title: Benton County, WA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Benton County guide covers every agency in the county: Benton County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Kennewick each year?
Kennewick reported 2,496 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Kennewick?
Look on the custody page of the Benton County Sheriff's Office at bentoncountywa.gov, or call 509-783-1451. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Kennewick booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Benton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Kennewick?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Washington State Patrol: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Kennewick?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Kennewick police for its own arrests, the Benton County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the answer is due within 5 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bentoncountywa.gov.
Is this the official Kennewick website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.