Arrest Records for Madison County, Ohio

If you have a name and need to know what Madison County’s court and law-enforcement systems show, the records live in two separate places: the Madison County Clerk of Courts handles court filings and case dockets at Clerk Of Courts, while the Madison County Sheriff’s Office holds booking-side records at Madisonsheriff. The Madison County Courthouse in London operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Ohio Supreme Court’s appellate case search covers any appeals filed beyond the county level. Records-request fees and specific procedures: call to confirm before visiting.

If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Madison County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.

If your person has a history in other states

A nationwide criminal records search may surface case records from other states or federal jurisdictions that Madison County’s own portals never index. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account. This tool can be useful when you need to check records across multiple states where someone has lived or when verifying whether your own record appears accurately in databases beyond Ohio.

Sponsored: Nationwide Criminal Background Check (we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you).

This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.

How to look up arrest records in Madison County

Walk into the Madison County Courthouse on a weekday and you have the same access to court records as any attorney — Ohio’s open-records law does not require you to explain why you want a document.

The Madison County Clerk of Courts maintains the county’s court docket, including felony cases filed in the Court of Common Pleas and misdemeanor cases in the municipal division. The online records search at Clerk lets you search by name from any browser. The county also publishes downloadable court records through its court records download portal. Note that some document formats on the Clerk’s system use the DjVu viewer — the Clerk’s records page links to the necessary browser plug-in if you need it.

For booking-side records — arrest dates, charges at intake, and jail history — contact the Madison County Sheriff’s Office directly. The main office opens at 8:30 a.m. on weekdays; some records services operate only 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, so call ahead before making the trip. Reach the Sheriff’s Office at (740) 852-1212. Bring government-issued ID and exact change if you plan to pay in cash — certain services at the Sheriff’s Office require cash only. Parking near the office is generally convenient.

For state prison records, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction offender search covers anyone sentenced to an ODRC facility. Madison County is home to both the London Correctional Institution and the Madison Correctional Institution, so ODRC records are particularly relevant for cases originating here. The ODRC search is free and requires no account.

Appellate matters — cases that moved beyond the Madison County Court of Common Pleas — appear in the Ohio Supreme Court case search. This statewide portal covers appellate dockets only; it does not duplicate the trial-court records held by the Clerk in London.

A practical note on the Madison County Municipal Court House: the lobby has no posted directions to the records counter, so ask at the front desk when you arrive. The court does not accept credit cards and has no ATM on site, so bring cash if you expect to pay a records fee in person.

Are Madison County arrest records public?

Roughly 43 million public records requests are processed across Ohio each year under a framework that defaults to disclosure rather than restriction.

That framework is ORC 149.43, the Ohio Public Records Act. Under that statute, arrest records — booking dates, charges, case numbers, and disposition entries — are presumptively public. Any person can request them. You do not need to be the subject of the record, an attorney, or a family member. The Madison County Clerk of Courts and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office both operate under this default-open rule.

Sealed and expunged records are the primary exception. When a Madison County court grants a petition to seal under ORC 2953.32, the record disappears from public view. The Clerk’s online search will not return it. The Sheriff’s booking records are similarly restricted. Law enforcement retains access to sealed records; the general public does not.

Juvenile records carry a separate, stronger protection. Cases adjudicated in the Madison County juvenile division are not public records. They do not appear in the Clerk’s online search and cannot be obtained through a standard public-records request.

Victim-protection redactions are a narrower but important exception. When a case involves a victim whose identity is protected by court order — certain domestic-violence, sexual-assault, or trafficking cases — the Clerk will redact identifying victim information before releasing documents. The underlying arrest record itself remains public; only the protected personal details are removed. No specific case needs to be named for this rule to apply: it operates automatically whenever a qualifying protection order is in place.

Booking photographs are public records under the Ohio Public Records Act. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office controls mugshot release; call (740) 852-1212 to confirm the current procedure for obtaining a specific booking photo.

What’s in a Madison County arrest record?

Does a single arrest generate one record or several? In Madison County, one arrest typically produces entries in at least two separate systems — and sometimes three.

On the Sheriff’s side, a booking entry is created at the Madison County jail. That entry captures the booking date and time, the arresting agency (Sheriff’s Office, London Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, or another local department), the charges as written at intake, and the subject’s physical descriptors. This is the raw arrest data. It does not reflect what happens in court afterward.

On the court side, the Madison County Courthouse generates its own records once a case is filed. The Clerk of Courts docket shows the case number, the formal charge or charges as filed by the prosecutor, all docket entries (hearings, continuances, motions), the disposition (guilty plea, dismissal, acquittal, or conviction after trial), sentencing details if applicable, and the attorney of record for both sides. The case number on the court docket and the booking number on the Sheriff’s system are different identifiers — searching one system does not automatically surface the other.

A citation — a traffic stop or minor misdemeanor handled without a full booking — may produce only a court filing with no corresponding jail booking entry. Conversely, a booking at the jail does not guarantee a court case was ever filed; charges are sometimes declined by the prosecutor after arrest.

Disposition data is the field most often missing or delayed in online searches. The Clerk’s docket updates as entries are made, but a case that resolved months ago may show an older status if the final entry was not yet posted when you searched. If the online record looks incomplete, the Clerk’s office at the Madison County Courthouse can confirm the current status in person or by phone.

Federal charges are a separate matter entirely. An arrest by a federal agency — DEA, FBI, U.S. Marshals — generates records in the federal court system, not in the Madison County Clerk’s docket. Those records live in PACER (the federal courts’ online access system) and are not visible through any Madison County portal.

How to expunge an arrest record in Madison County

Petitioning to seal an arrest record in Madison County is a routine civil filing — the same courthouse handles hundreds of them each year.

Ohio distinguishes between sealing and expungement. Sealing hides a record from public view; expungement, available since Senate Bill 288, permanently destroys an eligible record. Both paths run through ORC 2953.32 and are filed at the Madison County Court of Common Pleas — the sentencing court for felony cases, or the municipal division for misdemeanors. You file in the county where the case was originally heard, which for most Madison County arrests means London.

Eligibility depends on the outcome of the case. Arrests that did not result in a conviction — charges dismissed, case no-billed by a grand jury, acquittal at trial — can often be sealed without a waiting period. These are the most straightforward petitions. If the case was dismissed, bring the dismissal entry from the Clerk’s docket when you file.

Conviction-based petitions require a waiting period after the sentence is completed, as set by ORC 2953.32. The statute specifies the applicable durations; check the current text of ORC 2953.32 or ask the Clerk of Courts in London for the waiting period that applies to your specific offense level, because the legislature has amended these provisions in recent years.

Not every conviction qualifies. Certain serious felonies, most sex offenses, and offenses with mandatory registration requirements are excluded from sealing under the statute. If you are unsure whether your case qualifies, the Ohio Public Defender’s county public defender locator can connect you with a Madison County attorney at no cost for an initial eligibility assessment.

To file, obtain the Petition to Seal form from the Madison County Clerk of Courts. File it at the Clerk’s counter at the Madison County Courthouse in London. A filing fee applies; if you cannot afford it, ask the Clerk about an indigency waiver — the court has a process for fee waivers in civil filings. The Clerk accepts cash, check, money order, and Visa or Mastercard.

After filing, the court schedules a hearing. The prosecutor’s office receives notice and may object. A judge then rules on the petition. If granted, the Clerk seals the record and notifies relevant agencies. Law enforcement retains access to the sealed record; it no longer appears in public searches or on the Clerk’s online docket.

One important boundary: an Ohio sealing order covers Ohio state records only. If the same arrest generated a federal record — because a federal agency was involved or charges were filed in federal court — that federal record requires a separate federal petition and is entirely unaffected by the state court’s order. Ohio courts have no jurisdiction over federal court records.

For attorney-assisted petitions, the Ohio State Bar Association lawyer search lists attorneys licensed in Madison County. Self-represented petitions are permitted; the Clerk’s staff can confirm which forms are required but cannot give legal advice.

Frequently asked questions about Madison County arrest records

How do I find out what arrest records exist for a specific name in Madison County?

Search the Madison County Clerk of Courts online docket by name — it covers felony and misdemeanor cases filed in the county. For booking-level records not yet in the court system, call (740) 852-1212 to reach the Madison County Sheriff’s Office directly. If the person has served time in a state prison, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction offender search covers ODRC facilities including those in Madison County. Sealed records will not appear in any of these searches.

How do I get a Madison County arrest record sealed or expunged?

File a Petition to Seal at the Madison County Court of Common Pleas in London — the courthouse operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Arrests that did not result in a conviction can often be sealed without a waiting period. Conviction-based petitions require a waiting period set by ORC 2953.32; check the current statute text or ask the Clerk for the applicable timeframe. A filing fee applies, with an indigency waiver available. The Ohio Public Defender’s county public defender locator can connect you with a local attorney for a free eligibility review.