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 28, 2026.
Ozark, Alabama, in Dale County, has about 14,000 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 Dale 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: Ozark public records, Dale County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ozark
The FBI lists Ozark with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ozark Police Department. It reported 522 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 Dale County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 279 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Ozark 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.
- Ozark: 522 for 2025, 930 for 2024, 1,002 for 2023, 1,330 for 2022 and 1,085 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Ozark's 522 arrests in 2025 were down 44 percent from 930 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Ozark reported 352 arrests, against 245 in the same months of 2025.
Across Dale County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,669 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ozark Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ozark 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 2021 the jail held about 83 people, up from about 79 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 120 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Ozark
An arrest in Ozark can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Dale County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dale.alacourt.gov, phone 334-774-8011); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at government-county.org/company-dale-county-district-attorney-in-ozar..., phone (334) 774-9500).
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 Ozark
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 Ozark police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at ozarkal.gov/pd-command-staff (page title: PD | Command Staff | City of Ozark), phone (334) 774-2644, Monday - Friday - 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Dale County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (334) 774-9500, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dale County Circuit Court, through the court records page at dale.alacourt.gov, phone 334-774-8011.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dalecountyal.gov (page title: Dale County Alabama > County Commission > Open Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Dale County guide covers every agency in the county: Dale County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ozark each year?
Ozark reported 522 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Ozark booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dale County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ozark?
The court files of criminal cases in the Dale 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 Ozark?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ozark police for its own arrests, the Dale 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 dalecountyal.gov.
Is this the official Ozark 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.