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 2020. 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 25, 2026.
Kentwood, Michigan, in Kent County, has about 55,000 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 Kent 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: Kentwood public records, Kent County arrest records, Michigan arrest records and Michigan inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Kentwood
The FBI lists Kentwood with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Kentwood Police Department. It reported 962 arrests for 2020, its latest complete year. 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 Kent County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 4,154 arrests for 2025.
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).
How Many Arrests Kentwood 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.
- Kentwood: 962 for 2020 and 1,326 for 2019.
Kentwood's 962 arrests in 2020 were down 27 percent from 1,326 in 2019.
Across Kent County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 13,381 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kentwood Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kentwood 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.
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.
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.
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 Michigan Department of Corrections lists its inmates at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Kentwood
An arrest in Kentwood can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Kent County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Kent County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at kentcountymi.gov/1036/Search-Court-Records); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at kentcountymi.gov/1103/Prosecutors-Office, phone 616-632-6710).
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 Kentwood
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Kentwood police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at kentwood.us/city_services/city_departments/police/index.php (page title: Welcome to Kentwood, MI), phone 616-698-6580, Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Kent County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 616-632-6710, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Kent County Circuit Court, through the court records page at kentcountymi.gov/1036/Search-Court-Records.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kentcountymi.gov (page title: FOIA (Public Record Requests) | Kent County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Kent County guide covers every agency in the county: Kent County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Kentwood each year?
Kentwood reported 962 arrests to the FBI for 2020, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Kentwood?
Look on the custody page of the Kent County Sheriff's Office at eisjailviewer.kentcountymi.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Kentwood booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kent County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Kentwood?
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 Kentwood?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Kentwood police for its own arrests, the Kent 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 kentcountymi.gov.
Is this the official Kentwood 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.