Ashland County Arrest Records

Ashland County arrest records are law enforcement documents detailing the apprehension and detention of individuals in the county. These official records are mostly prepared and maintained by local law enforcement agencies, such as the Ashland Police Department and Ashland County Sheriff’s Office. However, state and federal law enforcement agencies may also conduct and document arrests in the county.

The Ashland County Jail, the only full-service jail in the county, is the detention facility for those arrested by the Sheriff’s Office. When arrestees are charged to court, their arrest records are also transferred and may be included in Ashland County court records.

Are Arrest Records Public in Ashland County?

Arrest records are public records in Ashland County. The Ohio Open Records Act mandates law enforcement and detention facilities to provide the records of arrestees unless such records are expunged, sealed, or made confidential by state or federal law. Examples of arrest records found in the last category are those identifying minors and victims of abuse. An arrest record may also be restricted from public access if it contains information that may interfere with a fair trial or ongoing investigation if made public.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

An arrest record provides a complete detail of an arrest event. Information provided by this document include the identities of the arrestee and arresting officer as well as when and where the arrest took place. An Ashland arrest record may also include the mugshot of the arrestee. This record will also state the reason for the arrest as well as the law enforcement agency/detention facility holding the arrestee.

Ashland County Arrest Statistics

While specific arrest figures for Ashland County are unavailable, crime statistics for the county gives a good approximation of the number of arrests made there. Crime data for Ashland County can be obtained from the Ohio Incident-Based Reporting System (OIBRS) of the Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS). The OIBRS recorded 95 violent crimes and 398 property crimes for Ashland County in 2023.

The Corrections Division of the county’s Sheriff’s Office manages the county jail and provides incarceration data. The Ashland County jail has a capacity of 127 with an average daily population of 110 and about 1,750 arrestees detained there annually.

Find Ashland County Arrest Records

Locating an Ashland County arrestee and finding their arrest record require knowing the law enforcement agency responsible for apprehending them. An arrestee detained by local law enforcement is most likely held at the county jail. The Sheriff’s Jail regularly publishes a searchable roster of arrestees that is publicly available. Ashland County arrestees detained in state prisons can be found using the Offender Search tool provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The US Bureau of Prisons (BOP) also provides a similar searchable index (inmate locator tool) for locating inmates of federal prisons.

Free Arrest Record Search in Ashland County

Law enforcement and correctional facilities at county, state, and federal levels offer free arrest record lookup tools to help anyone looking for Ashland County arrest records. These tools include the daily roster published by the county’s Sheriff’s Office as well as the Offender Search and Inmate Locator tools offered by the state’s correctional agency and the federal BOP. In addition to these, there are third-party websites that can help you locate an Ashland County arrestee quickly. These unofficial resources can search multiple databases at once and save you time especially when you only have limited information to find an inmate.

Ashland County Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

Ashland County arrest records only describe arrests made in the county. On the other hand, Ashland County criminal records provide the criminal histories of individuals. A criminal record is a more comprehensive document that not only mentions arrests but also charges, prosecutions, convictions, acquitals, sentencing, and incarceration. When prospective employers, and other eligible organizations, conduct background checks, they are seeking criminal records. An arrest record does not state whether the arrestee is guilty of the offense for which they were arrested and can, therefore, not be used to determine guilt or culpability.

Local law enforcement agencies in Ashland County can provide arrest records and limited criminal records. Only the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office can provide a complete picture of an Ashland resident’s criminal history. However, you can only request your own criminal records from the BCI.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

How long an arrest stays on record in Ashland County depends vary from one agency to another. Law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in Ohio have different record retention periods. However, even if one agency destroys its copy of an arrest record, it likely would have transmitted it to the BCI where arrests stay permanently on record unless expunged by court order.

Expunge Ashland County Arrest Records

Expunging an arrest record in Ashland County requires petitioning the court where the case linked to the arrest was heard. Before applying to this court to have your arrest record expunged, you should determine whether it qualifies for expunction. According to Section 2953.36 of the Ohio Revised Code, expungement is only allowed for misdemeanor and felony of the fourth or fifth degree convictions. However, Section 2953.32 also allows for the expungement of records associated with felonies of the third degree if they meet certain narrow criteria.

Even for criminal convictions that qualify for record expunction, Ohio requires a waiting period before expungement applications can be filed. For the limited cases of felonies of the third degree, there is a waiting period of 3 years. Anyone seeking to expunge the arrest or criminal record of a conviction for a misdemeanor or a felony of fourth or fifth degree must wait for 1 year after the conclusion of the case. However, there is no waiting period for seeking to expunge an arrest or criminal record linked to a case in which the offender was acquitted.

To file for an arrest record expungement in Ashland County, you should:

• Contact the court with jurisdiction to obtain an expungement application
• Gather and include evidence and support statements to help convince the court
• Complete and submit this application along with the prescribed filing fee

If a judge in the court weighs your application and approves the expunction, they will issue a signed court order authorizing relevant agencies to destroy the arrest record. You should send copies of this order to every agency where the record is kept as well as the Ohio Attorney General’s Office along with a completed Expungement Form.

Ashland County Arrest Warrants

Ashland County arrest warrants are issued by judges after they approve law enforcement affidavits to detain named individuals. Before approving an arrest warrant, a judge requires officers of the law to provide probable cause for the arrest. If convinced, the judge would sign the warrant to authorize the apprehension of the individual. An approved Ashland County arrest warrant must state the following:

• Full name of the person to be arrested
• Arrest charge
• Court where the named individual must appear
• Name and signature of the judge that approved the warrant
• When the arrest warrant was issued

Do Ashland County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. In Ashland County, arrest warrants do not expire until they are cleared. Clearing a warrant requires the apprehension of the individual named on the warrant. They may also submit to law enforcement or appear in the court mentioned in the warrant. Lastly, if the individual named on a warrant dies, then the warrant is deemed cleared.