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 4, 2026.
Winston County, Alabama, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Winston County Sheriff's Office and five city 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 Winston 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: Winston County public records, Alabama arrest records, Alabama inmate search and Alabama criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Winston County
The Winston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Winston County. It reported 80 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Winston County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Haleyville, 4,313 residents: 244 arrests reported for 2025.
- Double Springs, 1,121 residents: 83 arrests reported for 2025.
- Addison, 676 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2024.
- Lynn, 628 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2023.
- Arley, 333 residents: 23 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Winston 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.
- Haleyville: 244 for 2025, 253 for 2024, 309 for 2023 and 342 for 2022.
- Double Springs: 83 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 39 for 2023, 36 for 2022, 33 for 2021 and 23 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Winston County Sheriff's Office: 80 for 2025, 87 for 2023 and 549 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
- Arley: 23 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 21 for 2023 and 30 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Addison: 44 for 2024, 55 for 2023 and 34 for 2022.
- Lynn: 3 for 2023 and 5 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 430 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 350 in 2025 against 310 in 2024, up 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 345 arrests, against 296 in the same months of 2025.
Addison and Lynn reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 10 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Winston County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Winston County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2022 the jail held about 120 people, up from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022 was 120 beds, and it ran at 104 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 Winston County Sheriff's Office at winstonal.gov/new_page3/sheriff_office.php (page title: Winston County, AL), phone (205) 489-8765, 11 Blake Drive DOUBLE SPRINGS, AL 35553, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Winston County
For Winston County the place to look is the case index of the Winston County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at winston.alacourt.gov, phone (205) 489-5533).
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 Winston 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 Winston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (205) 489-8765.
- An arrest in Haleyville, Double Springs, Addison, Lynn or Arley: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Winston County Circuit Court, through the court records page at winston.alacourt.gov, phone (205) 489-5533.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Cities in Winston County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the six cities in Winston County: Haleyville, Double Springs, Addison, Lynn and Arley. Natural Bridge 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 Winston County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Winston County each year?
Haleyville reported 244 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 430 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Winston County?
Ask the Winston County Sheriff's Office at (205) 489-8765; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at winstonal.gov/new_page3/sheriff_office.php.
Where are people arrested in Winston County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Winston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Winston County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Winston 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 Winston County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Winston 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 Winston 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.