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 23, 2026 and September 27, 2026.
Manatee County, Florida, has about 458,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and six campus, state or other 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 State Attorney files charges, a case in the Manatee 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: Manatee County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Manatee County
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Manatee County.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Bradenton, 58,184 residents: 1,657 arrests reported for 2025.
- Palmetto, 13,682 residents.
- Holmes Beach, 3,049 residents.
- Bradenton Beach, 927 residents.
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 Longboat Key Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Manatee County, so its arrests are not broken out for Manatee County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Manatee County: the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Manatee County, the Manatee County Florida Game Commission, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Manatee County, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Manatee County and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Manatee County (state police).
How Many Arrests Bradenton 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.
- Bradenton: 1,657 for 2025, 1,620 for 2024 and 1,652 for 2023.
Bradenton's 1,657 arrests in 2025 were up 2.3 percent from 1,620 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Bradenton reported 980 arrests, against 1,067 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Manatee County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Manatee 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 1,200 people on an average day, up from about 980 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,468 beds, and it ran at 72 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 Manatee County Sheriff's Office at townofgreenwood.org/pt1_type/manatee-county-jail (page title: Manatee County Jail Inmate Search, Visitation, Mugshots | Records Search), phone 941-747-3011, 600 Highway 301 Boulevard West Bradenton, FL 34205, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Manatee County
An arrest in Manatee County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Manatee County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at records.manateeclerk.com/CourtRecords/Search).
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 Manatee County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Manatee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 941-747-3011.
- An arrest in Bradenton, Palmetto, Holmes Beach or Bradenton Beach: 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 Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Manatee County, the Manatee County Florida Game Commission or the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Manatee County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Manatee County Circuit Court, through the court records page at records.manateeclerk.com/CourtRecords/Search.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Manatee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Manatee County: Bradenton, Palmetto, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. Anna Maria 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 Manatee County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Manatee 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 Manatee County each year?
Bradenton reported 1,657 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Manatee County?
Look on the custody page of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office at townofgreenwood.org, or call 941-747-3011. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Manatee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Manatee County?
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 Manatee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Manatee County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the answer is due promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days.
Is this the official Manatee 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.