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 October 4, 2026.
Grand Haven, Michigan, in Ottawa County, has about 11,000 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 Ottawa 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: Grand Haven public records, Ottawa County arrest records, Michigan arrest records and Michigan inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Grand Haven
The FBI lists Grand Haven with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Grand Haven Police Department. It reported 115 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,780 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Ottawa County: Grand Valley State University (campus police); the Ottawa County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Grand Haven Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Grand Haven: 115 for 2025, 202 for 2023, 189 for 2022, 220 for 2021 and 240 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
Through August 2026, Grand Haven reported 71 arrests, against 87 in the same months of 2025.
Across Ottawa County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,935 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Grand Haven Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Grand Haven 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 290 people, down from about 320 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 462 beds, and it ran at 63 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at miottawa.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Ottawa County, MI), phone (616) 738-4000, 12220 Fillmore St West Olive, MI 49460, Monday 8:00am to 5:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Grand Haven
An arrest in Grand Haven can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Ottawa 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=ottawa+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at miottawa.org/department/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 Grand Haven
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 Grand Haven police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at grandhaven.org/downloads/depts/ps-forms/local_records_check.pdf (page title: GRAND HAVEN DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY), phone (800) 249-0911, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (616) 738-4000.
- 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 Ottawa 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 miottawa.org (page title: Search & Request Records | Ottawa County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Ottawa County guide covers every agency in the county: Ottawa County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Grand Haven each year?
Grand Haven reported 115 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Grand Haven?
Ask the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at (616) 738-4000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at miottawa.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Grand Haven booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Grand Haven?
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 Grand Haven?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Grand Haven police for its own arrests, the Ottawa 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 miottawa.org.
Is this the official Grand Haven 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.