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 27, 2026.
Lincoln County, Washington, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Lincoln 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: Lincoln County public records, Washington arrest records, Washington inmate search and Washington criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lincoln County
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lincoln County. It reported 285 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Odessa, 924 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2025.
- Reardan, 688 residents: 14 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Lincoln 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.
- Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: 285 for 2025, 226 for 2024, 179 for 2023, 195 for 2022, 187 for 2021 and 177 for 2020.
- Odessa: 6 for 2025.
- Reardan: 14 for 2023 and 20 for 2022.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 291 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 285 in 2025 against 226 in 2024, up 26 percent.
Reardan reported only part of 2025 (2 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lincoln County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Lincoln 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 2021 the jail held about 10 people, down from about 27 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 24 beds, and it ran at 112 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at p2c.lincolnsheriff.org/jailinmates.aspx (page title: Lincoln County Sheriffs Office P2C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Lincoln County
Whether someone was arrested in Lincoln County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Lincoln 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/court_dir/orgs/281.html, phone 509-725-3081); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.lincoln.wa.us/189/Prosecutors, phone 509-725-4040).
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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Odessa or Reardan: 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, 509-725-4040, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lincoln County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.wa.gov/court_dir/orgs/281.html, phone 509-725-3081.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lincoln County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the eight cities in Lincoln County: Odessa and Reardan. Davenport, Wilbur, Sprague, Harrington, Almira and Creston 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 Lincoln County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lincoln County each year?
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office reported 285 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 291 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lincoln County?
Ask the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at p2c.lincolnsheriff.org/jailinmates.aspx.
Where are people arrested in Lincoln County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lincoln 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.
Is this the official Lincoln 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.