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 October 4, 2026.
Roanoke, Alabama, in Randolph County, has about 5,400 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 Randolph 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: Roanoke public records, Randolph County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Roanoke
The FBI lists Roanoke with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Roanoke Police Department. It reported 591 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 Randolph County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 50 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Randolph County: Southern Union State Community College (campus police); 5th Judicial Circuit Narcotics Unit (other).
How Many Arrests Roanoke 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.
- Roanoke: 591 for 2025, 672 for 2024, 559 for 2023 and 300 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Roanoke's 591 arrests in 2025 were down 12 percent from 672 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Roanoke reported 312 arrests, against 417 in the same months of 2025.
Across Randolph County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 776 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Roanoke Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Roanoke 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 73 people, down from about 80 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 155 beds, and it ran at 52 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Randolph County Sheriff's Office at randolphcountyal.gov/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Randolph County Alabama), phone 256-357-4545, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Roanoke
For Roanoke the place to look is the case index of the Randolph County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at randolph.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 357-4551).
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 Roanoke
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 Roanoke police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at roanokealabama.org/police (page title: Police | The City of Roanoke, AL), phone 334-863-4129, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Randolph County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 256-357-4545.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Randolph County Circuit Court, through the court records page at randolph.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 357-4551.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at randolphcountyal.gov/open-records-requests (page title: Open Records Requests | Randolph County Alabama).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Randolph County guide covers every agency in the county: Randolph County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Roanoke each year?
Roanoke reported 591 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Roanoke?
Ask the Randolph County Sheriff's Office at 256-357-4545; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at randolphcountyal.gov/sheriffs-office.
Where are people arrested in Roanoke booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Randolph County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Roanoke?
The court files of criminal cases in the Randolph 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 Roanoke?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Roanoke police for its own arrests, the Randolph 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 randolphcountyal.gov/open-records-requests.
Is this the official Roanoke 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.