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.
Huntsville, Alabama, in Madison County, has about 230,000 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 Madison 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: Huntsville public records, Madison County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Huntsville
The FBI lists Huntsville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Huntsville Police Department. It reported 5,897 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 3,545 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Madison County: Huntsville International Airport (other); Drake State Community and Technical College, Oakwood University, the University of Alabama at Huntsville and Alabama A&M University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Huntsville 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.
- Huntsville: 5,897 for 2025, 6,228 for 2024, 3,920 for 2023 and 2,272 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
Huntsville's 5,897 arrests in 2025 were down 5.3 percent from 6,228 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Huntsville reported 3,460 arrests, against 4,054 in the same months of 2025.
Across Madison County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 11,178 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Huntsville Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Huntsville 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 2020 the jail held about 860 people, down from about 980 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 995 beds, and it ran at 98 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisoncountysheriffal.org/inmate-roster (page title: Inmate Roster | Madison County Sheriff's Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 256.722.7181, 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 Huntsville
Whether someone was arrested in Huntsville, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Madison County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at madison.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 532-3300).
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 Huntsville
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 Huntsville police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at huntsvilleal.gov/residents/public-safety/huntsville-police/records/... (page title: Records & Reports | City of Huntsville), phone 256-427-7020, 815 Wheeler Ave. NW, Huntsville, AL 35801, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Madison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 256.722.7181.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Madison County Circuit Court, through the court records page at madison.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 532-3300.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madison.alacourt.gov/records-request (page title: Madison County | Twenty-Third Circuit Court of Alabama).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Madison County guide covers every agency in the county: Madison County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Huntsville each year?
Huntsville reported 5,897 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Huntsville?
Look on the custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisoncountysheriffal.org/inmate-roster, or call 256.722.7181. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Huntsville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Huntsville?
The court files of criminal cases in the Madison 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 Huntsville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Huntsville police for its own arrests, the Madison 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 madison.alacourt.gov/records-request.
Is this the official Huntsville 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.