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.
Franklin County, Alabama, has about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 552 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Franklin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Russellville, 10,736 residents: 614 arrests reported for 2025.
- Red Bay, 3,171 residents: 111 arrests reported for 2025.
- Phil Campbell, 986 residents: 33 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin 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.
- Russellville: 614 for 2025, 635 for 2024, 738 for 2023, 565 for 2022 and 962 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 552 for 2025, 405 for 2024, 386 for 2023, 320 for 2022 and 270 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Red Bay: 111 for 2025, 92 for 2024, 128 for 2023, 83 for 2022, 97 for 2021 and 202 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Phil Campbell: 33 for 2025, 6 for 2022 and 0 for 2021; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,310 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,277 in 2025 against 1,132 in 2024, up 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 732 arrests, against 970 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Franklin 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 2021 the jail held about 97 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 252 beds, and it ran at 48 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Franklin County
For Franklin County the place to look is the case index of the Franklin County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at franklin.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 332-8861).
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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Russellville, Red Bay or Phil Campbell: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Franklin County Circuit Court, through the court records page at franklin.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 332-8861.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Franklin County: Russellville, Red Bay and Phil Campbell. Vina and Hodges 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 Franklin County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Franklin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Russellville (10,736)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
Russellville reported 614 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,310 between them.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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 Franklin 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.