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.
Phenix City, Alabama, in Russell County, has about 39,000 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 Russell 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: Phenix City public records, Russell County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Phenix City
The FBI lists Phenix City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Phenix City Police Department. It reported 1,077 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 Russell County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 825 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Russell County: Chattahoochee Valley Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Phenix City 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.
- Phenix City: 1,077 for 2025, 987 for 2024, 1,171 for 2023, 1,181 for 2022, 926 for 2021 and 637 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Phenix City's 1,077 arrests in 2025 were up 9.1 percent from 987 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Phenix City reported 799 arrests, against 744 in the same months of 2025.
Across Russell County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,902 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Phenix City Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Phenix City 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 280 people, up from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2020, the last year with a capacity figure, was 455 beds, and it ran at 56 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 Russell County Sheriff's Office at rcso.org/inCustodySearchFeed/95993e28b03bc264981509975a6e7269 (page title: Russell County Sheriff’s Office AL), 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 Phenix City
Whether someone was arrested in Phenix City, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Russell County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Russell County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at russell.alacourt.gov/record-request-and-copies); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at russellcountyal.gov/services/county_attorney.php, phone 334-298-7963).
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 Phenix City
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 Phenix City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at phenixcityal.gov/police-department/divisions/administration-divisio... (page title: Records | Phenix City, Alabama), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Russell County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 334-298-7963, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Russell County Circuit Court, through the court records page at russell.alacourt.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at russell.alacourt.gov (page title: Russell County | Twenty-Sixth Circuit Court of Alabama).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Russell County guide covers every agency in the county: Russell County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Phenix City each year?
Phenix City reported 1,077 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Phenix City?
Look on the custody page of the Russell County Sheriff's Office at rcso.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Phenix City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Russell County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Phenix City?
The court files of criminal cases in the Russell 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 Phenix City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Phenix City police for its own arrests, the Russell 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 russell.alacourt.gov.
Is this the official Phenix City 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.