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 September 30, 2026.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, in Washtenaw County, has about 123,000 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Washtenaw 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: Ann Arbor public records, Washtenaw County arrest records, Michigan arrest records and Michigan inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ann Arbor
The FBI lists Ann Arbor with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ann Arbor Police Department. It reported 1,263 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 Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,014 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Washtenaw County: the Hudson Mills Metropark Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (other); Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (campus police); the Washtenaw County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Ann Arbor 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.
- Ann Arbor: 1,263 for 2025, 1,288 for 2024, 1,530 for 2023, 1,237 for 2022, 1,116 for 2021 and 998 for 2020.
Ann Arbor's 1,263 arrests in 2025 were down 1.9 percent from 1,288 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Ann Arbor reported 842 arrests, against 921 in the same months of 2025.
Across Washtenaw County, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,408 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ann Arbor Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ann Arbor 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 2023 the jail held about 320 people, down from about 380 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 407 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office at washtenaw.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Washtenaw County, MI), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Michigan Department of Corrections lists its inmates at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ann Arbor
An arrest in Ann Arbor can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.michigan.gov/search/?searchQuery=washtenaw+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at washtenaw.org/prosecuting-attorney).
Statewide, MiCOURT Case Search is the Michigan courts' statewide case search; not every court has joined.
Michigan is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: ICHAT lets anyone search public criminal history by name, for $10 a search, through the Michigan 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 Ann Arbor
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 Michigan Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, with a 10-day extension, and it may charge labor and copying, at rates the law caps.
- An arrest by the Ann Arbor police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at a2gov.org/police-department/foia-request-for-police-records (page title: FOIA Request for Police Records | City of Ann Arbor), phone 734.794.6935, 301 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washtenaw.org/records-request-0 (page title: Records Request | Washtenaw County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Washtenaw County guide covers every agency in the county: Washtenaw County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ann Arbor each year?
Ann Arbor reported 1,263 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ann Arbor?
Ask the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at washtenaw.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Ann Arbor booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ann Arbor?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Michigan State Police: ICHAT lets anyone search public criminal history by name, for $10. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Ann Arbor?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ann Arbor police for its own arrests, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 business days, with a 10-day extension; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washtenaw.org/records-request-0.
Is this the official Ann Arbor 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.