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.
Madison County, Alabama, has about 423,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Madison County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and five 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 Madison 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: Madison County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Madison County
The Madison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Madison County. It reported 3,545 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Huntsville, 230,402 residents: 5,897 arrests reported for 2025.
- Madison, 64,029 residents: 1,620 arrests reported for 2025.
- Triana, 4,936 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2024.
- Owens Cross Roads, 3,164 residents: 68 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Hope, 2,954 residents: 39 arrests reported for 2024.
- Gurley, 846 residents: 48 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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Madison County: Huntsville International Airport (other); Drake State Community and Technical College, Oakwood University, the University of Alabama at Huntsville and Alabama A&M University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Madison 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.
- Huntsville: 5,897 for 2025, 6,228 for 2024, 3,920 for 2023 and 2,272 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
- Madison County Sheriff's Office: 3,545 for 2025, 3,319 for 2024 and 3,298 for 2023.
- Madison: 1,620 for 2025, 1,886 for 2024 and 1,309 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Owens Cross Roads: 68 for 2025, 69 for 2024, 52 for 2023, 61 for 2022, 77 for 2021 and 31 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Gurley: 48 for 2025, 52 for 2024, 38 for 2023, 36 for 2022 and 45 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- New Hope: 39 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 32 for 2021 and 96 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Triana: 5 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 18 for 2022 and 22 for 2021.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 11,178 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 11,178 in 2025 against 11,554 in 2024, down 3.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 4,447 arrests, against 5,247 in the same months of 2025.
Triana and New Hope reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Madison County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Madison 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 2020 the jail held about 860 people, down from about 980 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 995 beds, and it ran at 98 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisoncountysheriffal.org/inmate-roster (page title: Inmate Roster | Madison County Sheriff's Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 256.722.7181, 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 Madison County
Whether someone was arrested in Madison County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Madison County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at madison.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 532-3300).
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 Madison County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 256.722.7181.
- An arrest in Huntsville, Madison, Triana, Owens Cross Roads, New Hope or Gurley: 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 Huntsville International Airport, Drake State Community and Technical College or Oakwood University: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Madison County Circuit Court, through the court records page at madison.alacourt.gov, phone (256) 532-3300.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madison.alacourt.gov/records-request (page title: Madison County | Twenty-Third Circuit Court of Alabama).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Madison County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the six cities in Madison County: Huntsville, Madison, Triana, Owens Cross Roads, New Hope and Gurley.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Madison County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Madison County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Huntsville (230,402)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Madison County each year?
Huntsville reported 5,897 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 11,178 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Madison County?
Look on the custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisoncountysheriffal.org/inmate-roster, or call 256.722.7181. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Madison County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Madison County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Madison 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 Madison County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Madison 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 madison.alacourt.gov/records-request.
Is this the official Madison 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.