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

Jefferson County, Alabama, has about 665,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, 25 city agencies and eight campus, state or other 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 Jefferson 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: Jefferson County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson County

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson County. It reported 1,438 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 25 cities in Jefferson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Birmingham, 196,357 residents: 3,115 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hoover, 93,013 residents: 1,705 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Vestavia Hills, 38,151 residents: 979 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Homewood, 27,919 residents: 1,818 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Trussville, 27,079 residents: 963 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Bessemer, 25,079 residents: 2,426 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Mountain Brook, 21,701 residents: 435 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Gardendale, 16,444 residents: 596 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hueytown, 16,185 residents: 651 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Irondale, 13,545 residents: 398 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Leeds, 12,573 residents: 1,018 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Fairfield, 9,524 residents: 148 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 Helena Police Department, the Sumiton Police Department, the Argo Police Department and one more are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Jefferson County, so their arrests are not broken out for Jefferson County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Jefferson County: the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jefferson State Community College, Miles College, Lawson State Community College and one more (campus police); the Alabama Historic Ironworks Commission Police (state agency); Norfolk Southern Railway and Trussville Fire Department Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit (other).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jefferson 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.

  • Birmingham: 3,115 for 2025, 3,160 for 2022 and 4,850 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
  • Bessemer: 2,426 for 2025, 1,787 for 2024, 1,677 for 2023, 1,747 for 2022 and 2,089 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
  • Homewood: 1,818 for 2025, 1,887 for 2024, 2,528 for 2023 and 1,653 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
  • Hoover: 1,705 for 2025, 1,774 for 2024, 1,767 for 2023, 2,299 for 2021 and 1,532 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
  • Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 1,438 for 2025, 1,157 for 2024, 1,289 for 2023 and 1,666 for 2022.
  • Leeds: 1,018 for 2025, 1,005 for 2024, 1,071 for 2023 and 833 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
  • Vestavia Hills: 979 for 2025, 915 for 2024, 1,185 for 2023, 1,263 for 2022, 929 for 2021 and 1,007 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Trussville: 963 for 2025, 1,206 for 2024, 1,137 for 2023, 1,249 for 2022 and 1,284 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
  • Hueytown: 651 for 2025, 607 for 2024, 679 for 2023 and 969 for 2022.
  • Adamsville: 631 for 2025, 734 for 2024, 515 for 2023 and 503 for 2022.
  • Gardendale: 596 for 2025, 575 for 2024, 571 for 2023 and 589 for 2022.
  • Mountain Brook: 435 for 2025, 393 for 2024, 417 for 2023 and 417 for 2022.

Together, the 21 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,082 arrests that year. The 16 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 12,963 in 2025 against 12,323 in 2024, up 5.2 percent.

Through July 2026, the 20 agencies with every month so far on file reported 10,865 arrests, against 9,786 in the same months of 2025.

Fultondale, Brighton, Lipscomb and Trafford reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 7 months, 9 months and 9 months) and are left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jefferson County 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 2023 the jail held about 920 people, down from about 1,380 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,155 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Jefferson County

An arrest in Jefferson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at jefferson.alacourt.gov, phone (205) 325-5355); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jccal.org/370/District-Attorneys-Office---Birmingham, phone 205-325-5252).

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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Trussville, Bessemer 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 the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Alabama Historic Ironworks Commission Police or Jefferson State Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 205-325-5252, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Jefferson County Circuit Court, through the court records page at jefferson.alacourt.gov, phone (205) 325-5355.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncounty.nextrequest.com (page title: Public Record RequestsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.

Cities in Jefferson County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 25 of the 34 cities in Jefferson County: the twelve named above and Pleasant Grove, Fultondale, Tarrant, Midfield, Kimberly, Adamsville, Warrior, Morris, Brighton, Lipscomb, Graysville, Brookside and Trafford. Center Point, Clay, Pinson, Sylvan Springs, Mulga, West Jefferson, Maytown, North Johns and Cardiff 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 Jefferson County Circuit Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County each year?

Birmingham reported 3,115 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 21 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 17,082 between them.

Where are people arrested in Jefferson County booked?

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

Are arrest records public in Jefferson County?

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

From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson 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 jeffersoncounty.nextrequest.com.

Is this the official Jefferson 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.