Henry Earl, the world’s most arrested man, dead at 74 after more than 1,300 busts: ‘He was a character’

A Kentucky man who was famous for racking up more than 1,300 arrests during his lifetime, died last weekend at the age of 74, according to reports.

Henry Earl, who made national news as “the world’s most arrested man” for his prolific rap sheet, was buried at Owenton Cemetery Thursday afternoon, with workers from the Owenton Healthcare and Rehabilitation Facility, where he spent the final years of his life, in attendance.

Earl had no family that could be contacted to attend the ceremony, WLEX reported.

“He was a character, he had a wonderful sense of humor,” said Ginny Ramsey, founder of Lexington’s Catholic Action Center, who knew him for decades.

The beloved vagabond was busted roughly 1,300 times — mostly for alcohol-related offenses —  since the Division of Community Corrections of Lexington Fayette Urban County Government began digitally documenting arrests in 1992, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

He’d been arrested more than 1,500 times over five decades, the Smoking Gun reported.

Earl told the Herald-Leader he began drinking after his adopted mother died when he was 18 years old. He hadn’t worked a real job since he was employed at a motel as a busboy in 1969 — a gig he lost after he showed up to work drunk.

His first arrest came in Fayette County in July 1970 for carrying a concealed weapon when he was 20 years old, according to the Smoking Gun. Since then, he spent more than 6,000 days in jail.

His incredible penchant for breaking the law landed him on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2004, which he was not able to attend in person because he was locked up at the time.

Earl’s benchmark 1,000th arrest came in 2008 for alcohol intoxication when he was found passed out on someone’s back porch. Afterward, he entered a four-month rehab program, only to be arrested again after four months of sobriety, according to the Herald-Leader.

His last arrest was for public intoxication arrest in April 2017, records show.

Ramsey said while Earl was a charismatic and often difficult person at the Catholic Action Center’s housing program, he was a free spirit at heart.

The once-homeless man was well known in the Lexington community, where he would hang around the University of Kentucky college bars and get drinks from students. 

He liked to tell people to call him “James Brown.”

“We’d say, ‘Now Henry Earl, you need to be in by 9:30 or 10 o’clock. The weekends, you can stay out til 11.’ Well, he tried, but wasn’t quite ready,” Ramsey told WLEX.

“You couldn’t meet Henry Earl, and not love him,” said Ramsey. “Henry Earl, he’ll never be forgotten.”

Earl became sick and spent his last seven years at the Owenton Healthcare and Rehabilitation Facility.