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.
Lewis County, Washington, has about 87,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lewis County Sheriff's Office and six city 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Lewis 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: Lewis County public records, Washington arrest records, Washington inmate search and Washington criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lewis County
The Lewis County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lewis County. It reported 1,015 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Centralia, 19,061 residents: 1,039 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chehalis, 7,717 residents: 333 arrests reported for 2025.
- Winlock, 2,515 residents: 50 arrests reported for 2025.
- Napavine, 2,155 residents: 82 arrests reported for 2025.
- Morton, 1,089 residents: 36 arrests reported for 2025.
- Toledo, 767 residents: 14 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 Lewis County
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.
- Centralia: 1,039 for 2025, 1,383 for 2024, 1,322 for 2023, 1,588 for 2022, 1,298 for 2020 and 1,294 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Lewis County Sheriff's Office: 1,015 for 2025, 944 for 2024, 818 for 2023, 972 for 2022, 901 for 2021 and 808 for 2020.
- Chehalis: 333 for 2025, 418 for 2024, 342 for 2023, 215 for 2022, 239 for 2021 and 364 for 2020.
- Napavine: 82 for 2025, 177 for 2024, 132 for 2023 and 101 for 2022.
- Winlock: 50 for 2025, 82 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 6 for 2021 and 7 for 2020.
- Morton: 36 for 2025 and 45 for 2024.
- Toledo: 14 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 1 for 2022, 6 for 2021, 3 for 2020 and 7 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,569 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,569 in 2025 against 3,073 in 2024, down 16 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,494 arrests, against 1,522 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lewis County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lewis 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 2021 the jail held about 150 people, down from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 356 beds, and it ran at 67 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 Lewis County Sheriff's Office at lewiscountywa.gov/offices/sheriff/corrections-jail (page title: Corrections | Jail), phone (360) 748-9241, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Lewis County
Whether someone was arrested in Lewis County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Lewis County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lewiscountywa.gov/offices/district-court/access-to-court-records, phone 360-740-2779); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lewiscountywa.gov/offices/prosecutor/about-the-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 Lewis 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 Lewis County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (360) 748-9241.
- An arrest in Centralia, Chehalis, Winlock, Napavine, Morton or Toledo: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- 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 Lewis County Superior Court, through the court records page at lewiscountywa.gov, phone 360-740-2779.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lewiscountywa.gov (page title: Public Records Requests).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lewis County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the nine cities in Lewis County: Centralia, Chehalis, Winlock, Napavine, Morton and Toledo. Mossyrock, Vader and Pe Ell 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 Lewis County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lewis County each year?
Centralia reported 1,039 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,569 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lewis County?
Ask the Lewis County Sheriff's Office at (360) 748-9241; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lewiscountywa.gov.
Where are people arrested in Lewis County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lewis County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lewis 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 Lewis County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lewis 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 lewiscountywa.gov.
Is this the official Lewis 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.