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.
Fairhope, Alabama, in Baldwin County, has about 26,000 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 Baldwin 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: Fairhope public records, Baldwin County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Fairhope
The FBI lists Fairhope with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Fairhope Police Department. It reported 916 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 Baldwin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,686 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Baldwin County: Coastal Alabama Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Fairhope 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.
- Fairhope: 916 for 2025, 1,205 for 2023 and 1,030 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
Through July 2026, Fairhope reported 489 arrests, against 507 in the same months of 2025.
Across Baldwin County, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,663 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fairhope Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fairhope 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 480 people, down from about 740 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 654 beds, and it ran at 73 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.baldwincountyal.gov/home/arrest-search (page title: Arrest Search), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Fairhope
An arrest in Fairhope can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Alacourt, the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at baldwincountyal.gov/government/district-attorney, phone 251.580.1695).
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 Fairhope
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 Fairhope police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at fairhopeal.gov/departments/police (page title: City of Fairhope Police Department | City of Fairhope, AL), phone (251) 928-2385, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 251.580.1695, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at baldwincountyal.nextrequest.com (page title: Important | Read before proceedingNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Baldwin County guide covers every agency in the county: Baldwin County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fairhope each year?
Fairhope reported 916 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fairhope?
Ask the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.baldwincountyal.gov.
Where are people arrested in Fairhope booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fairhope?
The court files of criminal cases in the Baldwin 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 Fairhope?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fairhope police for its own arrests, the Baldwin 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at baldwincountyal.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Fairhope 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.