Seneca County Arrest Records

As one of their primary responsibilities, law enforcement agents in Seneca County arrest individuals suspected of breaking the law. Whenever this happens, the arrestees are taken to the police department or the Seneca County jail to be searched, have their items inventoried, and processed or booked into detention pending bail or arraignment. A staff member will also collect the arrestee's fingerprints, mugshots, and personal information to facilitate booking. Specific details gathered from the booking process will then be used to create an arrest record that serves as proof of the subject's arrest and detention in the county.

While every arresting agency within Seneca County maintains its arrest records, it may transmit records to other criminal justice agencies, such as the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas, where such information becomes part of Seneca County court records.

Are Arrest Records Public in Seneca County?

Yes. Arrest records are public documents per Section 149.43 of Ohio's Revised Code (the Ohio Public Records Act), which guarantees anyone's right to access documents maintained by public offices.

According to state law, arrest records, like all other public records held by public offices, belong to the people and are only kept by record custodians in trust for members of the public. For this reason, records custodians do not reserve the right to deny individuals access to arrest information. Officers who flaunt this rule may be liable to significant civil penalties.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. Generally, record custodians are allowed to restrict access to specific information whenever disclosure endangers the safety of the record's owner or other person or unreasonably prevents them from discharging their duties. Records may also be marked confidential by the operation of an extant statute or court order.

Examples of records that are exempt from public inspection include:

• Medical files
• Specific law enforcement investigatory records
• Sealed or expunged arrest records
• Juvenile records

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Public arrest records in Seneca County contain the following information:

• Booking number
• Inmate's full name and mugshot
• Inmate's descriptive information (height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc.)
• Bail information
• Charge and court information
• Case number
• Hold reason
• Arresting agency details

Seneca County Arrest Statistics

There are no publicly available arrest statistics for the County of Seneca. Instead, individuals are advised to query a regional law enforcement agency for arrest data in their possession. One can also contact certain Ohio State departments located within the county, such as the Ohio State Patrol, which maintains publicly accessible arrest statistics for Seneca County.

(Note: General crime data for Seneca County for 2022, the latest year for which records are available, is accessible via the Ohio Incident-Based Reporting System (OIBRS) Crime in Ohio Counties dashboard.)

Find Seneca County Arrest Records

Federal, state, county, and municipal governments exercise the right to arrest individuals suspected of committing crimes within Seneca County. However, the scope of this authority depends on the specific crime.

For example, federal law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), can apprehend individuals in Seneca County if they are suspected of federal crimes, such as interstate drug trafficking. On the other hand, state law enforcement agencies, such as the Ohio State Highway Patrol, operate in Seneca County to enforce and arrest violators of state laws. Lastly, municipal police departments within Seneca County and the Seneca County Sheriff's Office make up the local law enforcement agencies. While the municipal police departments enforce state criminal laws and local ordinances within their geographical jurisdictions, the Sheriff is the county's chief law enforcement officer and provides law enforcement services to the unincorporated areas within Seneca County.

Every arresting agency keeps records of the arrests they make. Consequently, one can obtain Seneca County arrest records on federal, state, and local levels by querying an arresting agency via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Specifically, the Seneca County Sheriff's Office provides a downloadable Public Record Request Form for any requester to fill out and submit to the Records Division. Parties can also reach the division at (419) 447-3456, option 5.

Furthermore, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies maintain online inmate information databases that remain accessible to any interested party who wishes to know where an arrested person is being held. They include:

• The Bureau of Prisons' Online Inmate Locator
• The Ohio State Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's (DRC) Offender Search
• The Seneca County Inmate Search platform

To facilitate a search, users will be required to input specific details, such as a subject's name or booking number.

Free Arrest Record Search in Seneca County

There is no charge for looking up Seneca County arrest records using the options above if the intention is to inspect documents only. However, per Ohio laws, requesters must cover the costs of reproducing documents. Apart from official sources, individuals may also use third-party repositories offering free but limited record search services.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Forever. In Seneca County, arrest records remain part of a person's permanent criminal history information until expunged or sealed. Expungement is a formal legal process that completely erases an arrest or conviction from the subject's criminal records. Sealing, on the other hand, only removes the record from public sight.

Expunge Seneca County Arrest Records

Individuals are advised to confirm their eligibility for expungement before beginning the expunction (expungement) process for arrest records in Seneca County. For instance, they must not be the subject of a pending or open criminal case and must have completed community service, probation, or any other court supervisory conditions. They must also have paid all outstanding fines and restitution if required. Further, there is a waiting period for record sealing and expungement, which varies by the severity of the offense. Minor misdemeanors typically have a waiting period of 6 months, while felonies may take as long as 10 years.

Individuals must also note that certain records cannot be expunged. They include:

• Rape, murder, kidnapping, and other first and second-degree felonies
• More than two third-degree felonies
• Convictions for domestic violence and protective order violations
• Traffic offenses
• Most crimes against children below 13 years old
• Sex crimes requiring registration in the sex offenders registry

Parties qualified to have their records expunged must make a written application to the court where the case was heard. A Judgment Entry of Conviction should be attached to the application, and a $50 non-refundable filing fee must be paid upon filing (there is no fee for arrests that ended in an acquittal or dismissal). Upon completing the filing process, the clerk will schedule a hearing date to determine the matter.

Note: The judge can decide whether to grant or decline the request for expungement.

Seneca County Arrest Warrants

A warrant is an order that gives a named entity the authority to perform a specific action. When "arrest" warrants are issued in Seneca, they give peace officers the right to take a criminal suspect into custody and bring them before the issuing court. Such warrants typically contain the following information:

• The defendant's name or a description that accurately identifies the subject if their name is unknown
• The offense charged
• The issuing judicial officer's signature

Per Section 2941.36 of Ohio's Revised Code, arrest warrants can be issued in two ways:

• By an order of the court, and
• On a prosecuting attorney's motion after an affidavit, information, or indictment has been filed. For an arrest warrant to be granted on a motion brought forward by a prosecuting attorney, the court must be convinced that probable cause exists to justify the arrest.

Judges may also issue arrest warrants against individuals who violate a parole condition, fail to appear in court on a scheduled date, or neglect to pay a court-ordered fine. These are commonly referred to as bench warrants.

Outstanding arrest warrants are often public documents in Seneca County. Thus, members of the public can look them up by searching criminal court records or sending a public records request to the Seneca County Sheriff's Office.

It is worth noting that arrest warrants can turn up in a comprehensive background check. For this reason, a person named in a Seneca County arrest warrant is advised to take necessary action, including consulting a criminal defense attorney, to take care of the warrant. Proactive action allows one to avoid dire consequences, such as employment restrictions.

Do Seneca County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. Seneca County arrest warrants can be served at any time after issuance as long as they have not been executed by the subject's arrest or withdrawn by the court.