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 September 24, 2026.
Chelan County, Washington, has about 81,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chelan County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Chelan County Superior 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: Chelan County public records, Washington arrest records, Washington inmate search and Washington criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chelan County
The Chelan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chelan County. It reported 465 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Chelan County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Wenatchee, 35,401 residents: 1,400 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chelan 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.
- Wenatchee: 1,400 for 2025, 1,559 for 2024, 1,444 for 2023, 1,223 for 2022, 1,127 for 2021 and 1,003 for 2020.
- Chelan County Sheriff's Office: 465 for 2025, 510 for 2024, 473 for 2023, 376 for 2022, 581 for 2020 and 858 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,865 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,865 in 2025 against 2,069 in 2024, down 9.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,037 arrests, against 1,062 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chelan County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chelan 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 2023 the jail held about 85 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 131 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Chelan County Sheriff's Office at co.chelan.wa.us/regional-jail/inmate-list (page title: County of Chelan, Washington), 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 Washington State Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.wa.gov/records/incarcerated-data-search/incarcerated-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Chelan County
An arrest in Chelan County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Chelan County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Chelan County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.chelan.wa.us/clerk/pages/document-online-record-search); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.chelan.wa.us/prosecutor).
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 Chelan 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 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 Chelan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Wenatchee: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chelan County Superior Court, through the court records page at co.chelan.wa.us.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.chelan.wa.us/public-records-request (page title: County of Chelan, Washington).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Chelan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Chelan County: Wenatchee. Chelan, Cashmere, Leavenworth and Entiat have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Chelan County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Chelan County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Wenatchee (35,401)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chelan County each year?
Wenatchee reported 1,400 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,865 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chelan County?
Look on the custody page of the Chelan County Sheriff's Office at co.chelan.wa.us/regional-jail/inmate-list. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Chelan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chelan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chelan County?
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 Chelan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chelan County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 co.chelan.wa.us/public-records-request.
Is this the official Chelan 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.