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.
Hamilton, Alabama, in Marion County, has about 6,900 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 Marion 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: Hamilton public records, Marion County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hamilton
The FBI lists Hamilton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hamilton Police Department. It reported 351 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 Marion County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 42 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Marion County: District Attorney at 25th Circuit and Marion County Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Hamilton 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.
- Hamilton: 351 for 2025, 444 for 2024 and 401 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Hamilton's 351 arrests in 2025 were down 21 percent from 444 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Hamilton reported 223 arrests, against 245 in the same months of 2025.
Across Marion County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 770 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hamilton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hamilton 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 170 people, up from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 152 beds, and it ran at 86 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 Hamilton
For Hamilton the place to look is the case index of the Marion County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at marion.alacourt.gov/public-search-records-and-copies).
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 Hamilton
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 Hamilton police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at hamiltoncityal.org/Departments/Police (page title: Hamilton Police Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Marion County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Marion County Circuit Court, through the court records page at marion.alacourt.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Marion County guide covers every agency in the county: Marion County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hamilton each year?
Hamilton reported 351 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Hamilton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Marion County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hamilton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Marion 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 Hamilton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hamilton police for its own arrests, the Marion 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 Hamilton 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.