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.
Gadsden, Alabama, in Etowah County, has about 33,000 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 Etowah 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: Gadsden public records, Etowah County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Gadsden
The FBI lists Gadsden with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Gadsden Police Department. It reported 299 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 Etowah County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 121 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Etowah County: Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit (other).
How Many Arrests Gadsden 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.
- Gadsden: 299 for 2025, 238 for 2024, 196 for 2023, 140 for 2022 and 690 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Gadsden's 299 arrests in 2025 were up 26 percent from 238 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Gadsden reported 267 arrests, against 185 in the same months of 2025.
Across Etowah County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,429 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gadsden Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Gadsden 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 510 people, down from about 900 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2020, the last year with a capacity figure, was 865 beds, and it ran at 81 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 Gadsden
An arrest in Gadsden can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Etowah County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at etowah.alacourt.gov, phone 256-549-5372); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at etowahda.com).
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 Gadsden
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 Gadsden police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofgadsden.com/345/About (page title: About | Gadsden, AL), phone 256-549-4630, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Etowah 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 Etowah County Circuit Court, through the court records page at etowah.alacourt.gov, phone 256-549-5372.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at etowah.alacourt.gov/record-request-and-copies (page title: Etowah County | Sixteenth Circuit Court of Alabama).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Etowah County guide covers every agency in the county: Etowah County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gadsden each year?
Gadsden reported 299 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Gadsden booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Etowah County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gadsden?
The court files of criminal cases in the Etowah 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 Gadsden?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gadsden police for its own arrests, the Etowah 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 etowah.alacourt.gov/record-request-and-copies.
Is this the official Gadsden 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.