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.
Dothan, Alabama, in Houston County, has about 72,000 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 Houston 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: Dothan public records, Houston County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dothan
The FBI lists Dothan with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dothan Police Department. It reported 5,119 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 Houston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 850 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Houston County: Wallace Community College at Dothan (campus police); the Dothan-Houston County Airport Authority (other).
How Many Arrests Dothan 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.
- Dothan: 5,119 for 2025, 5,347 for 2024, 5,116 for 2023, 6,076 for 2022 and 7,617 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Dothan's 5,119 arrests in 2025 were down 4.3 percent from 5,347 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Dothan reported 3,535 arrests, against 3,492 in the same months of 2025.
Across Houston County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,064 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dothan Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Dothan and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 440 people, up from about 420 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 398 beds, and it ran at 111 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dothan
For Dothan the place to look is the case index of the Houston County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at houston.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 677-4800).
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 Dothan
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Dothan police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at dothan.org/m/faq?cat=24#question-167 (page title: FAQs | CivicPlus.CMS.FAQ), phone (334) 615-4150, Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Houston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Houston County Circuit Court, through the court records page at houston.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 677-4800.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Houston County guide covers every agency in the county: Houston County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dothan each year?
Dothan reported 5,119 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Dothan booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Houston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dothan?
The court files of criminal cases in the Houston 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 Dothan?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dothan police for its own arrests, the Houston 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 Dothan 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.