Cowley County Arrest Records

Cowley County arrest records are produced by arresting law enforcement agencies after a person is apprehended and detained at the Cowley County Jail (or any other detention facility within the county). These records detail a person's arrest, including the time and date, the offender's mugshots, and more.

Arrest records ensure law enforcement accountability, aid the criminal justice process, and promote public information sharing. For example, Cowley County arrest records can be used to build criminal defense arguments, look into a person's criminal background, and collect arrest data for statistical analysis.

However, unlike the Cowley County court records, arrest records do not indicate a person's guilt or innocence regarding a crime.

Are Arrest Records Public in Cowley County?

Yes. Based on the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), records maintained by public institutions, such as arrest records, are open for public inspection and copying. Furthermore, individuals have the right to receive a written response to their requests for public records within three business days. However, the right to access Cowley County arrest records does not extend to records exempt from disclosure by a specific law or court order, such as:

• Criminal investigation records
• Notes and preliminary drafts
• Criminal intelligence information
• Information that reveals the identity of an informant or victim
• Standard Arrest Reports (SARs)
• Records of juvenile offenders

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Public Cowley County arrest records typically contain the following information:

• Subject's name, booking number, and offense number
• Offense details (statute violated, alleged offense, class of offense—whether felony or misdemeanor)
• Court details (case number and presiding court)
• Arresting agency

Cowley County Arrest Statistics

Based on data extracted from the FBI's (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Crime Data Explorer (CDE), Cowley County Sheriff's Office made 167 arrests in 2023. More arrests (60) were executed for drug/narcotics offenses, followed by driving under the influence (DUI), with 35 arrests. Further, the Sheriff's Office made 26 arrests for simple assault and 9 for aggravated assault.

Note: The above information does not represent the county total, as other (municipal) police agencies, like the Burden and Udall PDs, submitted individual figures to the FBI in 2023. Individuals can leverage the CDE portal to find arrest statistics from municipal police departments in Cowley County.

Find Cowley County Arrest Records

Arresting law enforcement agencies in Cowley County primarily maintain the Cowley County arrest records. Consequently, individuals can query the specific PD that executed an arrest for information. In most cases, this department will be the local Sheriff's Office at 911 Fuller Street, Winfield, Kansas 67156. The Sheriff also maintains an online inmate roster where interested parties can retrieve the county's inmate population details.

While not mandatory, police agencies recommend written requests for arrest records for efficient record retrieval. Requesters may also be charged fees for their requests, especially when a record will be duplicated to fulfill a request.

Beyond local resources, interested parties can expand their search to state limits by querying the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC). The KDOC maintains records of individuals arrested in Cowley County or other Kansas regions but sent to state prison. Such inmate records are provided to the public through the Kansas Adult Supervised Population Electronic Repository (KASPER), which is updated daily. To conduct a state offender search, users require a subject's name (first, middle, and last) or KDOC number.

Finally, individuals can obtain records of those arrested in Cowley County by federal law enforcement agencies by accessing the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate locator. They can also directly inquire at a federal arresting agency for related arrest records. For example, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintains an Online Detainee Locator System, which dispenses information about current detainees in ICE custody.

Free Arrest Record Search in Cowley County

Generally, individuals seeking copies of arrest records from government bodies should be prepared to pay reasonable fees for the service. However, parties can often conduct free arrest record searches by choosing document inspection over copying.

A similar principle applies when accessing arrest information through private vendors. Third-party vendors often offer free record searches but provide limited information after a search. However, users may be offered comprehensive results in exchange for a fee or subscription.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

For one's lifetime. Cowley County arrests remain on a person's criminal history unless the subject obtains an expungement or receives executive clemency.

Expunge Cowley County Arrest Records

An expungement in Cowley County removes an arrest from a person's criminal record, ensuring that members of the public can no longer view the expunged information. However, the record will remain visible to qualified entities (those with statutory authority).

To kickstart the expungement process, applicants (subjects of the records) are advised to verify their eligibility status, which should be certain if:

• The subject was arrested based on mistaken identity
• The court found no probable cause for the arrest
• A competent court found the subject not guilty of the offense
• A record expungement is determined to be in the best interests of justice, and the charges were dismissed or are not likely to be filed

If the arrest led to a conviction, the individual must verify that the offense is not among the “inexpungible crimes,” such as:

• Murder (capital, first-degree, or second-degree)
• Voluntary and involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated sexual battery
• Rape
• Criminal sodomy
• Aggravated incest
• Child abuse
• Endangering a child
• Sexual exploitation of a child
• Indecent solicitation of a child
• Sexual battery of an underaged victim

To expunge eligible convictions, a defendant must complete the mandatory waiting period after the completion of their sentence. The waiting time depends on the category of offense. For example, misdemeanors have a general 3-year waiting period, while Class A, B, and C felonies have a 5-year waiting timeline.

After ascertaining eligibility, the next step is to file an expungement petition with the court that handled the case (forms are available on the Kansas Judicial Council's website). Then, the court will scrutinize the petition to decide if an expungement is the appropriate relief. If the court approves the petition, a certified copy will be sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) to update the subject's criminal history record (this can take up to 4 weeks). The KBI will also notify every involved criminal justice agency.

Cowley County Arrest Warrants

Cowley County arrest warrants are written court instructions for law enforcement agents to apprehend a named individual suspected of committing a criminal act. Arrest warrants are issued based on a finding of probable cause that a specific person committed an offense. They often contain the following information:

• Subject's name and description
• Alleged offense
• Judge's signature

The Cowley County Sheriff's Office is the chief executor of arrest warrants within the jurisdiction. Consequently, members of the public can check for active arrest warrants by visiting or contacting the Sheriff.

Do Cowley County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. Although certain factors, like a subject's demise, can frustrate the execution of arrest warrants, Cowley County arrest warrants have no general expiration date. This means active arrest warrants are executable at any time except when a court withdraws a warrant.