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 30, 2026.
LaPorte County, Indiana, has about 111,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the La Porte County Sheriff's Office, seven city agencies and two 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the LaPorte Circuit and Superior Courts. 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: LaPorte County public records, Indiana arrest records, Indiana inmate search and Indiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in LaPorte County
The La Porte County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for LaPorte County. It reported 950 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists seven cities in LaPorte County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Michigan City, 31,466 residents: 1,504 arrests reported for 2024.
- La Porte, 22,444 residents: 866 arrests reported for 2025.
- Westville, 5,260 residents: 27 arrests reported for 2020.
- Trail Creek, 2,010 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kingsford Heights, 1,323 residents.
- Long Beach, 1,168 residents: 109 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kingsbury, 186 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 LaPorte County: the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (state agency); La Porte Metro Operations Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in LaPorte 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.
- Trail Creek: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- La Porte County Sheriff's Office: 950 for 2025, 867 for 2024, 1,049 for 2023, 860 for 2022, 826 for 2020 and 1,101 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- La Porte: 866 for 2025, 1,086 for 2024, 741 for 2022, 857 for 2021 and 844 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Long Beach: 109 for 2025.
- Michigan City: 1,504 for 2024, 1,723 for 2022, 1,397 for 2021, 1,247 for 2020 and 1,295 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Westville: 27 for 2020 and 27 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,077 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,968 in 2025 against 3,105 in 2024, down 4.4 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,238 arrests, against 1,305 in the same months of 2025.
Michigan City reported only part of 2025 (7 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in LaPorte County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in LaPorte County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 350 people, down from about 380 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 367 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 custody page of the La Porte County Sheriff's Office at laportecountysheriff.com/inmate-information (page title: Inmate Information | La Porte County Sheriff's Office), phone 219.362.6548, 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Indiana Department of Correction lists its inmates at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in LaPorte County
An arrest in LaPorte County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the La Porte County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the LaPorte Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov/courts/local/laporte-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at laporteco.in.gov/courts-services/prosecuting-attorney, phone 219-326-6808).
Statewide, mycase.IN.gov is the Indiana courts' free statewide case search.
Indiana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online, through the Indiana State Police. 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 LaPorte 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 Indiana Access to Public Records Act the agency must answer within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email, and it may charge a copy fee set by the agency, within statutory limits.
- An arrest by the La Porte County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 219.362.6548.
- An arrest in Michigan City, La Porte, Westville, Trail Creek, Kingsford Heights, Long Beach or another of the cities listed above: 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 Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District or La Porte Metro Operations Drug Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 219-326-6808, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the LaPorte Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/laporte-county.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in LaPorte County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the 11 cities in LaPorte County: Michigan City, La Porte, Westville, Trail Creek, Kingsford Heights, Long Beach and Kingsbury. Wanatah, La Crosse, Michiana Shores and Pottawattamie Park 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 LaPorte Circuit and Superior Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in LaPorte County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Michigan City (31,466)
- La Porte (22,444)
- Westville (5,260)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in LaPorte County each year?
Trail Creek reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,077 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in LaPorte County?
Look on the custody page of the La Porte County Sheriff's Office at laportecountysheriff.com/inmate-information, or call 219.362.6548. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in LaPorte County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the La Porte County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in LaPorte County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Indiana State Police: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in LaPorte County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the La Porte County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act the answer is due within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email.
Is this the official LaPorte 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.