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.
Fort Payne, Alabama, in DeKalb County, has about 15,000 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 DeKalb 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: Fort Payne public records, DeKalb County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Fort Payne
The FBI lists Fort Payne with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Fort Payne Police Department. It reported 535 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 DeKalb County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 646 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in DeKalb County: Northeast Alabama Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Fort Payne Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Fort Payne: 535 for 2025, 442 for 2024, 516 for 2023, 451 for 2022 and 1,086 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Fort Payne's 535 arrests in 2025 were up 21 percent from 442 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Fort Payne reported 351 arrests, against 361 in the same months of 2025.
Across DeKalb County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,049 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fort Payne Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fort Payne 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 2021 the jail held about 150 people, down from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 381 beds, and it ran at 69 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 DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbcountysheriff.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=... (page title: Inmate Roster | DeKalb County Alabama Sheriff’s Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), 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 Fort Payne
Whether someone was arrested in Fort Payne, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the DeKalb County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dekalb.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 845-8525); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dekalbda.org).
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 Fort Payne
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 Fort Payne police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at fortpayne.org/city-services/police (page title: Police Department | The City of Fort Payne), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- 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 DeKalb County Circuit Court, through the court records page at dekalb.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 845-8525.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The DeKalb County guide covers every agency in the county: DeKalb County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fort Payne each year?
Fort Payne reported 535 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fort Payne?
Look on the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbcountysheriff.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Fort Payne booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fort Payne?
The court files of criminal cases in the DeKalb 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 Fort Payne?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fort Payne police for its own arrests, the DeKalb 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 Fort Payne 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.