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.
Pelham, Alabama, in Shelby County, has about 25,000 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 Shelby 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: Pelham public records, Shelby County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Pelham
The FBI lists Pelham with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Pelham Police Department. It reported 1,016 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,972 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Shelby County: the University of Montevallo (campus police).
How Many Arrests Pelham 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.
- Pelham: 1,016 for 2025, 807 for 2024, 796 for 2023, 720 for 2022, 806 for 2021 and 870 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Pelham's 1,016 arrests in 2025 were up 26 percent from 807 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Pelham reported 679 arrests, against 666 in the same months of 2025.
Across Shelby County, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,526 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pelham Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Pelham 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 500 people, up from about 480 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 544 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Pelham
For Pelham the place to look is the case index of the Shelby County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at shelby.alacourt.gov, phone 205-669-3760).
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 Pelham
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 Pelham police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at pelhamalabama.gov/972/Get-in-Touch (page title: Get in Touch | Pelham, AL), phone 205.620.6550, 32 Philip Davis Street Pelham, AL 35124, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shelby County Circuit Court, through the court records page at shelby.alacourt.gov, phone 205-669-3760.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at shelbyal.com/501/Freedom-of-Information-Act (page title: Public Records Requests | Shelby County, AL).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Shelby County guide covers every agency in the county: Shelby County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pelham each year?
Pelham reported 1,016 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Pelham booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pelham?
The court files of criminal cases in the Shelby 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 Pelham?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pelham police for its own arrests, the Shelby 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 shelbyal.com/501/Freedom-of-Information-Act.
Is this the official Pelham 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.