SearchSystems Editorial

Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 24, 2026.

About this guide

Baldwin County, Alabama, has about 262,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, 12 city agencies and one campus agency. An arrest 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 Baldwin County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.

This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.

Related guides: Baldwin County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Baldwin County

The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Baldwin County. It reported 1,686 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 12 cities in Baldwin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

  • Daphne, 30,751 residents: 1,550 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Foley, 28,043 residents: 1,378 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Fairhope, 26,044 residents: 916 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Gulf Shores, 17,431 residents: 1,320 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Spanish Fort, 11,118 residents: 152 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Orange Beach, 8,599 residents: 587 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Bay Minette, 8,505 residents: 700 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Robertsdale, 7,613 residents: 393 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Loxley, 5,176 residents: 350 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Elberta, 2,147 residents: 175 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Silverhill, 2,030 residents: 141 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Summerdale, 1,612 residents: 315 arrests reported for 2025.

A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.

The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Baldwin County: Coastal Alabama Community College (campus police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Baldwin County

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.

  • Baldwin County Sheriff's Office: 1,686 for 2025 and 774 for 2024.
  • Daphne: 1,550 for 2025, 1,460 for 2024, 1,528 for 2023 and 1,443 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
  • Foley: 1,378 for 2025, 1,340 for 2024, 1,074 for 2023 and 1,661 for 2022.
  • Gulf Shores: 1,320 for 2025, 1,295 for 2024, 1,317 for 2023, 1,045 for 2022, 687 for 2021 and 1,292 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Fairhope: 916 for 2025, 1,205 for 2023 and 1,030 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
  • Bay Minette: 700 for 2025, 839 for 2024, 831 for 2023, 890 for 2022 and 1,094 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
  • Orange Beach: 587 for 2025, 675 for 2024, 888 for 2023 and 689 for 2022.
  • Robertsdale: 393 for 2025, 437 for 2024, 355 for 2023, 399 for 2022 and 564 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
  • Loxley: 350 for 2025, 400 for 2024, 378 for 2023, 363 for 2022 and 420 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
  • Summerdale: 315 for 2025, 190 for 2024, 168 for 2023 and 374 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
  • Elberta: 175 for 2025, 208 for 2024, 170 for 2023 and 130 for 2022.
  • Spanish Fort: 152 for 2025, 180 for 2024, 225 for 2023, 185 for 2022 and 260 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.

Together, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,663 arrests that year. The 11 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,061 in 2025 against 7,151 in 2024, down 1.3 percent.

Through July 2026, the 13 agencies with every month so far on file reported 6,637 arrests, against 5,716 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Baldwin County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Baldwin County 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 480 people, down from about 740 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 654 beds, and it ran at 73 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 Baldwin County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.baldwincountyal.gov/home/arrest-search (page title: Arrest Search), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.

How to Find Out About an Arrest in Baldwin County

An arrest in Baldwin County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Alacourt, the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at baldwincountyal.gov/government/district-attorney, phone 251.580.1695).

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 Baldwin County

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 Baldwin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Daphne, Foley, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Spanish Fort, Orange Beach or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
  • An arrest by Coastal Alabama Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 251.580.1695, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at baldwincountyal.nextrequest.com (page title: Important | Read before proceedingNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.

Cities in Baldwin County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 12 of the 14 cities in Baldwin County: Daphne, Foley, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Spanish Fort, Orange Beach, Bay Minette, Robertsdale, Loxley, Elberta, Silverhill and Summerdale. Magnolia Springs and Perdido Beach have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Baldwin County Circuit Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Baldwin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Baldwin County each year?

The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office reported 1,686 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 13 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 9,663 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Baldwin County?

Ask the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.baldwincountyal.gov.

Where are people arrested in Baldwin County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Baldwin County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Baldwin 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 Baldwin County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 baldwincountyal.nextrequest.com.

Is this the official Baldwin County website?

No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.