Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Fort Myers, Florida, in Lee County, has about 100,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the State Attorney files charges, a case in the Lee County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Fort Myers public records, Lee County arrest records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Fort Myers
The FBI lists Fort Myers with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Fort Myers Police Department. It reported 2,238 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Lee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 13,047 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lee County: the Lee County Port Authority (other); the Department of Law Enforcement at Lee County, Fort Myers, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Lee County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Lee, the Lee County Florida Game Commission and three more (state agency); Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Southwestern State College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Lee County (state police).
How Many Arrests Fort Myers Reports
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.
- Fort Myers: 2,238 for 2025, 2,529 for 2024, 2,725 for 2023, 2,412 for 2022 and 1,887 for 2021.
Fort Myers's 2,238 arrests in 2025 were down 12 percent from 2,529 in 2024.
Through May 2026, Fort Myers reported 858 arrests, against 860 in the same months of 2025.
Across Lee County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,416 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fort Myers Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fort Myers 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 1,580 people on an average day, down from about 1,710 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 2,009 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Lee County Sheriff's Office at sheriffleefl.org/arrest-search (page title: Arrest Search | Lee County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Florida Department of Corrections lists its inmates at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Fort Myers
For Fort Myers the place to look is the case index of the Lee County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at matrix.leeclerk.org).
Florida is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24 a search, through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Fort Myers
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the agency must answer promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus a special service charge for large requests.
- An arrest by the Fort Myers police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at fortmyers.gov/m/directory/department?did=34 (page title: Staff Directory, Police Department), phone 239-321-7700, 2210 Widman Way Fort Myers, FL 33901, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lee County Circuit Court, through the court records page at matrix.leeclerk.org.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at leegov.com/publicrecords (page title: Public Records Request Center).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Lee County guide covers every agency in the county: Lee County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fort Myers each year?
Fort Myers reported 2,238 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fort Myers?
Ask the Lee County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriffleefl.org/arrest-search.
Where are people arrested in Fort Myers booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fort Myers?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Fort Myers?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fort Myers police for its own arrests, the Lee County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the answer is due promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at leegov.com/publicrecords.
Is this the official Fort Myers website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.