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 October 2, 2026.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, in Kent County, has about 200,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Grand Rapids is held at the county jail, run by the Kent County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Grand Rapids public records, Kent County inmate search, Grand Rapids arrest records, Grand Rapids warrants, Grand Rapids criminal records, Grand Rapids court records, Michigan arrest records and Michigan inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Grand Rapids
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Grand Rapids is held at the county jail, run by the Kent County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Kent County Sheriff's Office at eisjailviewer.kentcountymi.gov (page title: Web Jail Viewer), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Kent County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 940 people, down from about 1,100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,477 beds, and it ran at 63 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Kent County has about 673,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 14 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Kent County Jail
The Kent County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Grand Rapids (filed by the FBI as Grand Rapids Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Grand Rapids.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Kent County: the Kent County State Police (state police); Grand Rapids Community College (campus police); Gerald R. Ford International Airport (other agency).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Grand Rapids's 5,736 for 2025, the Kent County Sheriff's Office's 4,154 for 2025 and Wyoming's 1,896 for 2025.
Together, the nine agencies in Kent County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 13,381 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Grand Rapids arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Kent County serves the sentence in a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Grand Rapids?
Look on the custody page of the Kent County Sheriff's Office at eisjailviewer.kentcountymi.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Kent County jail?
About 940 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 1,477 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Kent County go?
To a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
Is this the official Grand Rapids 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.