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 30, 2026.
Selma, Alabama, in Dallas County, has about 16,000 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 Dallas 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: Selma public records, Dallas County arrest records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Selma
The FBI lists Selma with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Selma Police Department. It reported 132 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 Dallas County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 161 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Dallas County: Wallace Community College at Selma (campus police).
How Many Arrests Selma 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.
- Selma: 132 for 2025, 168 for 2024, 152 for 2023 and 184 for 2022.
Selma's 132 arrests in 2025 were down 21 percent from 168 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Selma reported 75 arrests, against 91 in the same months of 2025.
Across Dallas County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 293 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Selma Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Selma 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 2019 the jail held about 140 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 137 beds, and it ran at 104 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 Dallas County Sheriff's Office at dallascounty-al.org/County-Departments/Sheriffs-Department (page title: Sheriff's Department | County of Dallas, AL), phone (334) 874-2530, 102 Church Street Selma, AL 36702, Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Selma
For Selma the place to look is the case index of the Dallas County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dallas.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 874-2523).
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 Selma
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 Selma police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at selma-al.gov/departments/police-department/request-a-police-report (page title: Request a Police Report | The City of Selma Alabama), phone (334) 876-1260, 1300 Alabama Avenue Selma, AL 36703, Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (334) 874-2530.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dallas County Circuit Court, through the court records page at dallas.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 874-2523.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The Dallas County guide covers every agency in the county: Dallas County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Selma each year?
Selma reported 132 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Selma?
Ask the Dallas County Sheriff's Office at (334) 874-2530; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dallascounty-al.org.
Where are people arrested in Selma booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Selma?
The court files of criminal cases in the Dallas 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 Selma?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Selma police for its own arrests, the Dallas 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.
Is this the official Selma 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.