Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 9, 2026.
Miami Beach, Florida, in Miami-Dade County, has about 83,000 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 Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Miami Beach public records, Miami-Dade County arrest records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Miami Beach
The FBI lists Miami Beach with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Miami Beach Police Department. 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 Miami-Dade County Police Department is the county agency. It reported 11,565 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Miami-Dade County: the Department of Law Enforcement at Miami-Dade County, Miami, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Miami-Dade County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Miami-Dade County, the Department of Insurance in Miami-Dade County and three more (state agency); Florida International University (campus police); Miami-Dade County Public Schools (other); the Highway Patrol in Miami-Dade County (state police).
Arrest Counts on File for Miami Beach
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Miami Beach the counts on file are partial: Miami Beach has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Across Miami-Dade County, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 36,508 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Miami Beach Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Miami Beach 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 4,450 people on an average day, up from about 4,180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 4,660 beds, and it ran at 92 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Miami-Dade County Police Department at miamidade.gov/global/service.page?Mduid_service=ser1491494549439906 (page title: Inmate In-Custody Search), phone 786-263-7000, 3505 NW 107 Ave., Doral, FL 33178, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 29, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Florida Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Miami Beach
Whether someone was arrested in Miami Beach, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Miami-Dade County Police Department described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at miamidadeclerk.gov/clerk/records.page); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at miamisao.com).
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 Miami Beach
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 Miami Beach police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at miamibeachfl.gov/yourmbpd/services (page title: Services | City of Miami Beach), phone 305.673.7990, 1100 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139, Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Miami-Dade County Police Department: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 786-263-7000.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, through the court records page at miamidadeclerk.gov/clerk/records.page.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at miamidadeclerk.gov (page title: Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Miami-Dade County guide covers every agency in the county: Miami-Dade County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Miami Beach?
Look on the custody page of the Miami-Dade County Police Department at miamidade.gov, or call 786-263-7000. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Miami Beach booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Miami-Dade County Police Department; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Miami Beach?
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 Miami Beach?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Miami Beach police for its own arrests, the Miami-Dade County Police Department 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 miamidadeclerk.gov.
Is this the official Miami Beach 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.