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.
Limestone County, Alabama, has about 119,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Limestone 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 Limestone 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: Limestone County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Limestone County
The Limestone County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Limestone County. It reported 992 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:
- Athens, 32,587 residents: 1,612 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ardmore, 1,452 residents: 157 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 Decatur Police Department, the Madison Police Department and the Huntsville Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Limestone County, so their arrests are not broken out for Limestone County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Limestone 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.
- Athens: 1,612 for 2025, 1,405 for 2024, 1,296 for 2023, 1,244 for 2022 and 1,354 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Limestone County Sheriff's Office: 992 for 2025, 676 for 2024, 391 for 2023 and 403 for 2022.
- Ardmore: 157 for 2025, 99 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 60 for 2021 and 101 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,761 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,769 in 2025 against 1,504 in 2024, up 18 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,608 arrests, against 1,862 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Limestone County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Limestone 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 280 people, up from about 250 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 316 beds, and it ran at 90 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 Limestone County Sheriff's Office at limestonecounty-al.gov/Departments/Sheriff%E2%80%99s-Office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Limestone Co), phone (256) 232-0111, 100 South Clinton Street, 2nd Floor, Athens, AL 35611, Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4:30PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Limestone County
Whether someone was arrested in Limestone County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Limestone County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at limestone.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 216-3865); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at limestonecountyda.org, phone (256) 233-6416).
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 Limestone 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 Limestone County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (256) 232-0111.
- An arrest in Athens or Ardmore: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (256) 233-6416, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Limestone County Circuit Court, through the court records page at limestone.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 216-3865.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Limestone County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Limestone County: Athens and Ardmore. Elkmont, Lester and Mooresville 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 Limestone County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Limestone County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Athens (32,587)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Limestone County each year?
Athens reported 1,612 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,761 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Limestone County?
Ask the Limestone County Sheriff's Office at (256) 232-0111; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at limestonecounty-al.gov.
Where are people arrested in Limestone County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Limestone County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Limestone County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Limestone 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 Limestone County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Limestone 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 Limestone 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.