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 23, 2026.
Marion County, Florida, has about 429,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and seven 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 Marion 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: Marion County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Marion County
The Marion County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Marion County. It reported 9,588 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Ocala, 70,251 residents: 4,364 arrests reported for 2025.
- Belleview, 6,156 residents: 258 arrests reported for 2024.
- Dunnellon, 2,043 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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Marion County: the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Marion County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Marion, the Marion County Florida Game Commission, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Marion County and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Marion County (state police); Marion County School Board (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Marion County
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.
- Marion County Sheriff's Office: 9,588 for 2025, 9,521 for 2024, 8,123 for 2023, 7,414 for 2022 and 6,737 for 2021.
- Ocala: 4,364 for 2025, 4,961 for 2024, 4,296 for 2023 and 3,192 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
- Belleview: 258 for 2024.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 13,952 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 13,952 in 2025 against 14,482 in 2024, down 3.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 7,883 arrests, against 9,371 in the same months of 2025.
Belleview reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Marion County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Marion 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 1,380 people on an average day, down from about 1,480 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,924 beds, and it ran at 89 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 Marion County Sheriff's Office at marionso.com/inmate-booking (page title: INMATE BOOKING | Marion County Sheriff's Office), phone (352) 732-8181, 692 NW 30th Ave, Ocala, FL 34475, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Marion County
For Marion County the place to look is the custody page of the Marion County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail.
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 Marion 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 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 Marion County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (352) 732-8181.
- An arrest in Ocala, Belleview or Dunnellon: 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 Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Marion County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Marion or the Highway Patrol in Marion County: the records office of the agency involved.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at marionfl.org (page title: Public records | Marion County, FL).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Marion County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Marion County: Ocala, Belleview and Dunnellon. McIntosh and Reddick 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 Marion County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Marion 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 Marion County each year?
The Marion County Sheriff's Office reported 9,588 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 13,952 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Marion County?
Look on the custody page of the Marion County Sheriff's Office at marionso.com/inmate-booking, or call (352) 732-8181. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Marion County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Marion County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Marion 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 Marion County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Marion 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at marionfl.org.
Is this the official Marion 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.