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.
Vancouver, Washington, in Clark County, has about 199,000 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 Clark 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: Vancouver public records, Clark County arrest records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Vancouver
The FBI lists Vancouver with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Vancouver Police Department. It reported 4,098 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 Clark County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,166 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Clark County: Washington State University at Vancouver (campus police).
How Many Arrests Vancouver Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Vancouver: 4,098 for 2025, 3,782 for 2024, 2,940 for 2023, 2,333 for 2022, 1,560 for 2021 and 2,683 for 2020.
Vancouver's 4,098 arrests in 2025 were up 8.4 percent from 3,782 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Vancouver reported 1,941 arrests, against 2,025 in the same months of 2025.
Across Clark County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,494 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Vancouver Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Vancouver 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 2022 the jail held about 440 people, down from about 640 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 590 beds, and it ran at 108 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 Clark County Sheriff's Office at clark.wa.gov/sheriff (page title: Clark County Sheriff | Clark County), phone 564.397.2211, 707 West 13th St. Vancouver, WA 98660, monitored: Mon-Fri, 8 am - 4 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Vancouver
Whether someone was arrested in Vancouver, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Clark County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.wa.gov/index.cfm); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at clark.wa.gov/prosecuting-attorney, phone (564) 397-2261).
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 Vancouver
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 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 Vancouver police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofvancouver.us/government/department/vancouver-police-departmen... (page title: Police Records Division -The City of Vancouver, WA), phone 360-487-7400, Friday during normal business hours of 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Clark County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 564.397.2211.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (564) 397-2261, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clark County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.wa.gov/index.cfm.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at clark.wa.gov (page title: Public records requests | Clark County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Clark County guide covers every agency in the county: Clark County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Vancouver each year?
Vancouver reported 4,098 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Vancouver?
Ask the Clark County Sheriff's Office at 564.397.2211; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at clark.wa.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Vancouver booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clark County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Vancouver?
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 Vancouver?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Vancouver police for its own arrests, the Clark 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 clark.wa.gov.
Is this the official Vancouver 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.