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.
Gulf Shores, Alabama, in Baldwin County, has about 17,000 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: Gulf Shores public records, Baldwin County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Gulf Shores
The FBI lists Gulf Shores with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Gulf Shores Police Department. It reported 1,320 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 Gulf Shores 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.
- Gulf Shores: 1,320 for 2025, 1,295 for 2024, 1,317 for 2023, 1,045 for 2022, 687 for 2021 and 1,292 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Gulf Shores's 1,320 arrests in 2025 were up 1.9 percent from 1,295 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Gulf Shores reported 1,067 arrests, against 970 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 Gulf Shores Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Gulf Shores 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 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 Gulf Shores
An arrest in Gulf Shores 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 Gulf Shores
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 Gulf Shores police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at gulfshoresal.gov/m/faq?cat=23#question-98 (page title: FAQs | CivicPlus.CMS.FAQ), phone 251-968-2532, 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 Gulf Shores each year?
Gulf Shores reported 1,320 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Gulf Shores?
Ask the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.baldwincountyal.gov.
Where are people arrested in Gulf Shores 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 Gulf Shores?
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 Gulf Shores?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gulf Shores 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 Gulf Shores 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.