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 between September 24, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Covington County, Alabama, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Covington County Sheriff's Office, seven 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 Covington 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: Covington County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Covington County
The Covington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Covington County. It reported 361 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside seven of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Andalusia, 8,728 residents: 449 arrests reported for 2025.
- Opp, 6,706 residents: 392 arrests reported for 2025.
- Florala, 1,930 residents: 181 arrests reported for 2022.
- River Falls, 488 residents.
- Lockhart, 443 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2024.
- Red Level, 429 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2022.
- Gantt, 197 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Covington County: Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Covington County
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.
- Opp: 392 for 2025, 387 for 2024, 407 for 2023, 441 for 2022, 486 for 2021 and 384 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Andalusia: 449 for 2025, 516 for 2024, 463 for 2023, 312 for 2022 and 600 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Florala: 181 for 2022 and 178 for 2021.
- Lockhart: 13 for 2024 and 0 for 2022; 2023 is missing months.
- Red Level: 0 for 2022 and 1 for 2021.
- Covington County Sheriff's Office: 361 for 2025.
- Gantt: 11 for 2024 and 6 for 2021; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 934 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2022 and 2021 complete reported 622 in 2022 against 665 in 2021, down 6.5 percent.
River Falls and Gantt reported only part of 2022 (10 months and 10 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Covington County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Covington 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 2019 the jail held about 260 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 10 beds, and it ran at 2560 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 Covington County Sheriff's Office at covingtoncountyal.gov/31/Sheriffs-Department (page title: Sheriff's Department | Covington County, AL), phone 334-428-2641, 260 Hillcrest Drive Andalusia, AL 36420, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Covington County
An arrest in Covington County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Covington County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at covington.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 428-2520); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at covingtoncountyal.gov/263/District-Attorney---Mr-Walt-Merrell).
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 Covington 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 Covington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 334-428-2641.
- An arrest in Andalusia, Opp, Florala, River Falls, Lockhart, Red Level 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 Lurleen B. Wallace Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Covington County Circuit Court, through the court records page at covington.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 428-2520.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Covington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the 14 cities in Covington County: Andalusia, Opp, Florala, River Falls, Lockhart, Red Level and Gantt. Babbie, Carolina, Sanford, Heath, Horn Hill, Onycha and Libertyville 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 Covington County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Covington County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Andalusia (8,728)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Covington County each year?
Opp reported 392 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2022, the latest year most of the agencies in Covington County sent in full, the five with every month on file reported 934 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Covington County?
Ask the Covington County Sheriff's Office at 334-428-2641; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at covingtoncountyal.gov/31/Sheriffs-Department.
Where are people arrested in Covington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Covington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Covington County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Covington 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 Covington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Covington 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.
Is this the official Covington 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.