Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Arab, Alabama, in Marshall County, has about 8,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Marshall County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Arab public records, Marshall County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Arab
The FBI lists Arab with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Arab Police Department. It reported 1,396 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Marshall County: Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit (other); Snead State Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Arab Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Arab: 1,396 for 2025, 1,133 for 2024, 1,077 for 2023, 961 for 2022, 817 for 2021 and 1,377 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Arab's 1,396 arrests in 2025 were up 23 percent from 1,133 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Arab reported 998 arrests, against 1,043 in the same months of 2025.
Across Marshall County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,004 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Arab Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Arab is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 330 people, up from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 193 beds, and it ran at 170 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Marshall County Sheriff's Office at marshallso.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=desc/1 (page title: Inmate Roster | Marshall County Sheriff's Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 256-571-7851, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Arab
Whether someone was arrested in Arab, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Marshall County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Marshall County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at marshall.alacourt.gov, phone (800) 354-6154); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at alabamaag.gov/about).
Statewide, Alacourt is the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription.
Alabama does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Arab
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Alabama Public Records Law the agency must answer within a reasonable time; the statute sets no fixed deadline, and it may charge a reasonable fee for copies.
- An arrest by the Arab police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at arabcity.org/police-department (page title: Police Department | Arab City, Alabama | Government), phone 256.586.7525, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Marshall County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 256-571-7851.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Marshall County Circuit Court, through the court records page at marshall.alacourt.gov, phone (800) 354-6154.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Marshall County guide covers every agency in the county: Marshall County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Arab each year?
Arab reported 1,396 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Arab?
Look on the custody page of the Marshall County Sheriff's Office at marshallso.org, or call 256-571-7851. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Arab booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Marshall County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Arab?
The court files of criminal cases in the Marshall County Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Alabama Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Arab?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Arab police for its own arrests, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Alabama Public Records Law the answer is due within a reasonable time; the statute sets no fixed deadline.
Is this the official Arab website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.