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.
Shelby County, Alabama, has about 236,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, seven city agencies and one campus agency. 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 Shelby 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: Shelby County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shelby County
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shelby County. It reported 1,972 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside seven 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:
- Alabaster, 34,460 residents: 822 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pelham, 25,396 residents: 1,016 arrests reported for 2025.
- Helena, 22,200 residents: 335 arrests reported for 2025.
- Calera, 18,530 residents: 510 arrests reported for 2025.
- Montevallo, 7,761 residents: 467 arrests reported for 2025.
- Columbiana, 4,904 residents: 185 arrests reported for 2025.
- Harpersville, 1,925 residents: 219 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 Vestavia Hills Police Department, the Hoover Police Department, the Birmingham Police Department and one more are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Shelby County, so their arrests are not broken out for Shelby County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Shelby County: the University of Montevallo (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Shelby 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.
- Shelby County Sheriff's Office: 1,972 for 2025.
- Pelham: 1,016 for 2025, 807 for 2024, 796 for 2023, 720 for 2022, 806 for 2021 and 870 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Alabaster: 822 for 2025, 1,288 for 2024, 867 for 2023, 878 for 2022 and 1,424 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Calera: 510 for 2025, 610 for 2024, 580 for 2023 and 1,225 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Montevallo: 467 for 2025, 405 for 2024, 288 for 2023, 323 for 2022, 288 for 2021 and 416 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Helena: 335 for 2025, 351 for 2024, 319 for 2023 and 351 for 2022.
- Harpersville: 219 for 2025, 154 for 2024, 148 for 2023, 185 for 2022, 213 for 2021 and 265 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Columbiana: 185 for 2025, 151 for 2024, 201 for 2023, 181 for 2022 and 208 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,526 arrests that year. The seven of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,554 in 2025 against 3,766 in 2024, down 5.6 percent.
Through August 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,348 arrests, against 3,675 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shelby County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Shelby 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 2023 the jail held about 500 people, up from about 480 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 544 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Shelby County
For Shelby County the place to look is the case index of the Shelby County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at shelby.alacourt.gov, phone 205-669-3760).
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 Shelby 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Alabaster, Pelham, Helena, Calera, Montevallo, Columbiana 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 the University of Montevallo: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shelby County Circuit Court, through the court records page at shelby.alacourt.gov, phone 205-669-3760.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at shelbyal.com/501/Freedom-of-Information-Act (page title: Public Records Requests | Shelby County, AL).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Shelby County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the 13 cities in Shelby County: Alabaster, Pelham, Helena, Calera, Montevallo, Columbiana and Harpersville. Chelsea, Indian Springs Village, Vincent, Westover, Wilsonville and Wilton 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 Shelby County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Shelby 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 Shelby County each year?
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office reported 1,972 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,526 between them.
Where are people arrested in Shelby County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shelby County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Shelby 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 Shelby County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shelby 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 shelbyal.com/501/Freedom-of-Information-Act.
Is this the official Shelby 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.