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.
Thurston County, Washington, has about 303,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and three campus, state or other 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 Thurston 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: Thurston County public records, Washington arrest records, Washington inmate search and Washington criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Thurston County
The Thurston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Thurston County. It reported 1,161 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Thurston County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Lacey, 58,644 residents: 1,612 arrests reported for 2025.
- Olympia, 56,271 residents: 1,715 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tumwater, 27,826 residents: 544 arrests reported for 2025.
- Yelm, 11,715 residents: 717 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tenino, 1,956 residents: 45 arrests reported for 2020.
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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Thurston County: Evergreen State College (campus police); the State Gambling Commission Enforcement Unit and the State Insurance Commissioner's Special Investigations Unit (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Thurston 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.
- Olympia: 1,715 for 2025, 1,594 for 2024, 1,679 for 2023, 1,743 for 2022, 1,079 for 2021 and 1,242 for 2020.
- Lacey: 1,612 for 2025, 1,751 for 2024, 1,342 for 2023, 1,124 for 2022, 922 for 2021 and 1,169 for 2020.
- Thurston County Sheriff's Office: 1,161 for 2025, 956 for 2024, 944 for 2023, 838 for 2022, 784 for 2021 and 964 for 2020.
- Yelm: 717 for 2025, 456 for 2021, 545 for 2020 and 864 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Tumwater: 544 for 2025, 544 for 2024, 529 for 2023, 421 for 2022, 457 for 2021 and 617 for 2020.
- Tenino: 45 for 2020 and 41 for 2019.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,749 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,032 in 2025 against 4,845 in 2024, up 3.9 percent.
Through June 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,325 arrests, against 2,320 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Thurston County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Thurston 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 240 people, down from about 450 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 491 beds, and it ran at 48 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 Thurston County Sheriff's Office at thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/sheriff/corrections-bureau/correct... (page title: Corrections Bureau | Corrections Facility Roster Search | Thurston County), phone 877-846-3492, 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 Thurston County
An arrest in Thurston County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Thurston County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/county-clerk/info/searching-case-a...); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/prosecuting-attorney, phone 360-786-5540).
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 Thurston 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 Thurston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 877-846-3492.
- An arrest in Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Yelm or Tenino: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Evergreen State College, the State Gambling Commission Enforcement Unit or the State Insurance Commissioner's Special Investigations Unit: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 360-786-5540, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Thurston County Superior Court, through the court records page at thurstoncountywa.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at thurstoncountywa.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Thurston County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Thurston County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the seven cities in Thurston County: Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Yelm and Tenino. Rainier and Bucoda 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 Thurston County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Thurston County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Thurston County each year?
Olympia reported 1,715 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,749 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Thurston County?
Look on the custody page of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office at thurstoncountywa.gov, or call 877-846-3492. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Thurston County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Thurston 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 Thurston County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Thurston 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 thurstoncountywa.gov.
Is this the official Thurston 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.