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 9, 2026.
Mobile County, Alabama, has about 412,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, ten city agencies and four 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 Mobile 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: Mobile County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mobile County
The Mobile County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mobile County. It reported 930 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists ten cities in Mobile County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Mobile, 201,367 residents: 3,776 arrests reported for 2025.
- Saraland, 16,458 residents: 982 arrests reported for 2025.
- Satsuma, 6,874 residents: 144 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chickasaw, 6,241 residents: 399 arrests reported for 2025.
- Semmes, 6,193 residents: 314 arrests reported for 2025.
- Citronelle, 3,928 residents: 78 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bayou La Batre, 2,124 residents: 89 arrests reported for 2025.
- Creola, 1,972 residents: 123 arrests reported for 2024.
- Dauphin Island, 1,923 residents: 172 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Vernon, 1,366 residents: 25 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 Mobile County: Mobile Regional Airport (other); the University of South Alabama, Bishop State Community College and Spring Hill College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Mobile 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.
- Mobile: 3,776 for 2025, 4,404 for 2024, 4,581 for 2023, 5,742 for 2022, 7,331 for 2021 and 8,333 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Saraland: 982 for 2025, 1,003 for 2024, 924 for 2023, 974 for 2022, 641 for 2021 and 878 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Mobile County Sheriff's Office: 930 for 2025, 901 for 2024, 509 for 2023 and 680 for 2022.
- Chickasaw: 399 for 2025, 203 for 2024, 191 for 2023, 179 for 2021 and 547 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
- Semmes: 314 for 2025, 429 for 2024 and 546 for 2023.
- Dauphin Island: 172 for 2025, 162 for 2024, 127 for 2023, 136 for 2022, 130 for 2021 and 50 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Satsuma: 144 for 2025, 227 for 2024, 224 for 2023, 190 for 2022 and 221 for 2021.
- Bayou La Batre: 89 for 2025, 133 for 2024, 141 for 2023, 290 for 2022 and 312 for 2021.
- Citronelle: 78 for 2025, 81 for 2024, 125 for 2023, 115 for 2022, 210 for 2021 and 126 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Mount Vernon: 25 for 2025, 31 for 2023, 18 for 2022 and 8 for 2021; 2024 is missing months.
- Creola: 123 for 2024, 174 for 2022 and 158 for 2021; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,909 arrests that year. The nine of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 6,884 in 2025 against 7,543 in 2024, down 8.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the nine agencies with every month so far on file reported 4,565 arrests, against 4,857 in the same months of 2025.
Creola reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mobile County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mobile 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 2024 the jail held about 1,450 people, up from about 1,330 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,183 beds, and it ran at 134 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 Mobile County Sheriff's Office at mobileso.com/jail-web-portal (page title: Jail Web Portal | Mobile County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Mobile County
For Mobile County the place to look is the case index of the Mobile County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mobile.alacourt.gov, phone (251) 574-8806).
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 Mobile 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 Mobile County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Mobile, Saraland, Satsuma, Chickasaw, Semmes, Citronelle 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 Mobile Regional Airport, the University of South Alabama or Bishop State Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Mobile County Circuit Court, through the court records page at mobile.alacourt.gov, phone (251) 574-8806.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mobileal.justfoia.com (page title: Mobile, AL Public Portal | JustFOIA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
The other Mobile County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Mobile County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for ten of the 11 cities in Mobile County: Mobile, Saraland, Satsuma, Chickasaw, Semmes, Citronelle, Bayou La Batre, Creola, Dauphin Island and Mount Vernon. Prichard has 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 Mobile County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Mobile 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 Mobile County each year?
Mobile reported 3,776 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the ten agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 6,909 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mobile County?
Ask the Mobile County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mobileso.com/jail-web-portal.
Where are people arrested in Mobile County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mobile County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mobile County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Mobile 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 Mobile County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mobile 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 mobileal.justfoia.com.
Is this the official Mobile 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.