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.
Sumter County, Alabama, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, three 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 Sumter 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: Sumter County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sumter County
The Sumter County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sumter County. It reported 0 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists three cities in Sumter County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Livingston, 3,138 residents: 55 arrests reported for 2025.
- York, 2,278 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2024.
- Cuba, 279 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2023.
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 one more agency in Sumter County: the University of West Alabama (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Sumter 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.
- Livingston: 55 for 2025, 60 for 2024, 64 for 2023, 55 for 2022, 23 for 2021 and 34 for 2020.
- York: 5 for 2024 and 0 for 2022; 2023 is missing months.
- Sumter County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2024 and 7 for 2022; 2023 is missing months.
- Cuba: 0 for 2023.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 65 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 60 in 2024 against 64 in 2023, down 6.3 percent.
Cuba reported only part of 2024 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sumter County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Sumter 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 2019 the jail held about 27 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 125 beds, and it ran at 22 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 Sumter County
For Sumter County the place to look is the case index of the Sumter County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sumter.alacourt.gov, phone (205) 652-2291).
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 Sumter 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 Sumter County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Livingston, York or Cuba: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the University of West Alabama: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sumter County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sumter.alacourt.gov, phone (205) 652-2291.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Sumter County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Sumter County: Livingston, York and Cuba. Epes, Gainesville, Geiger and Emelle 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 Sumter County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sumter County each year?
Livingston reported 55 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Sumter County sent in full, the three with every month on file reported 65 between them.
Where are people arrested in Sumter County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sumter County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Sumter 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 Sumter County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sumter 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 Sumter 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.