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 2, 2026.
Lee County, Alabama, has about 188,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lee County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Lee 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: Lee County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lee County
The Lee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lee County. It reported 2,814 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Auburn, 83,757 residents: 2,731 arrests reported for 2025.
- Opelika, 35,005 residents: 1,491 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 Notasulga Police Department and the Phenix City Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Lee County, so their arrests are not broken out for Lee County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lee 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.
- Lee County Sheriff's Office: 2,814 for 2025, 3,121 for 2024, 3,152 for 2023, 3,073 for 2022 and 2,579 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Auburn: 2,731 for 2025, 2,825 for 2024, 2,922 for 2023, 3,123 for 2022 and 3,242 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Opelika: 1,491 for 2025, 1,455 for 2024, 1,469 for 2023, 1,746 for 2022 and 2,723 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,036 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,036 in 2025 against 7,401 in 2024, down 4.9 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 4,373 arrests, against 4,700 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lee County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lee 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 2019 the jail held about 390 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 424 beds, and it ran at 92 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Lee County Sheriff's Office at leecosheriffal.gov/corrections/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Lee County Sheriff’s Office | Lee County Sheriff's Office), phone (334) 749-5651, 1900 Frederick Road Opelika, AL 36801, Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Lee County
An arrest in Lee County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Lee County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Lee County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lee.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 737-3526).
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 Lee 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 Lee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (334) 749-5651.
- An arrest in Auburn or Opelika: 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 Lee County Circuit Court, through the court records page at lee.alacourt.gov, phone (334) 737-3526.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Lee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Lee County: Auburn and Opelika. Smiths Station and Loachapoka 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 Lee County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Lee 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 Lee County each year?
The Lee County Sheriff's Office reported 2,814 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,036 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lee County?
Look on the custody page of the Lee County Sheriff's Office at leecosheriffal.gov/corrections/inmate-search, or call (334) 749-5651. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Lee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lee County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Lee 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 Lee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lee 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 Lee 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.