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.
Morgan County, Alabama, has about 126,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and two 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 Morgan 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: Morgan County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Morgan County
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Morgan County. It reported 458 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists six cities in Morgan County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Decatur, 57,974 residents: 1,237 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hartselle, 16,201 residents: 610 arrests reported for 2025.
- Priceville, 3,872 residents: 295 arrests reported for 2025.
- Trinity, 2,602 residents: 144 arrests reported for 2025.
- Falkville, 1,123 residents: 134 arrests reported for 2025.
- Somerville, 821 residents: 69 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 Morgan County: District Attorney at 8th Circuit (other); Calhoun Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Morgan 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.
- Decatur: 1,237 for 2025, 1,849 for 2024, 1,903 for 2023, 1,836 for 2022 and 4,016 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Hartselle: 610 for 2025, 734 for 2024, 715 for 2023 and 450 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Morgan County Sheriff's Office: 458 for 2025.
- Priceville: 295 for 2025, 173 for 2024, 268 for 2023, 254 for 2022, 73 for 2021 and 99 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Trinity: 144 for 2025, 123 for 2024, 152 for 2023, 218 for 2022, 144 for 2021 and 77 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Falkville: 134 for 2025, 183 for 2024, 211 for 2023 and 213 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Somerville: 69 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 61 for 2022 and 42 for 2021.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,947 arrests that year. The six of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,489 in 2025 against 3,086 in 2024, down 19 percent.
Through July 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,494 arrests, against 1,768 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Morgan County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Morgan 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 2022 the jail held about 620 people, up from about 600 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022 was 940 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Morgan County
For Morgan County the place to look is the case index of the Morgan County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at morgan.alacourt.gov, phone (800) 354-6154).
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 Morgan 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 Morgan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Decatur, Hartselle, Priceville, Trinity, Falkville or Somerville: 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 District Attorney at 8th Circuit or Calhoun Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Morgan County Circuit Court, through the court records page at morgan.alacourt.gov, phone (800) 354-6154.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Morgan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the seven cities in Morgan County: Decatur, Hartselle, Priceville, Trinity, Falkville and Somerville. Eva 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 Morgan County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Morgan 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 Morgan County each year?
Decatur reported 1,237 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,947 between them.
Where are people arrested in Morgan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Morgan County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Morgan 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 Morgan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Morgan 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 Morgan 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.