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.
Petoskey, Michigan, in Emmet County, has about 5,800 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 Emmet 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: Petoskey public records, Emmet County arrest records, Michigan arrest records and Michigan inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Petoskey
The FBI lists Petoskey with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Petoskey Police Department. It reported 164 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 Emmet County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 313 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Emmet County: the Emmet County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Petoskey 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.
- Petoskey: 164 for 2025, 161 for 2024, 171 for 2023, 127 for 2022, 137 for 2021 and 111 for 2020.
Petoskey's 164 arrests in 2025 were up 1.9 percent from 161 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Petoskey reported 104 arrests, against 102 in the same months of 2025.
Across Emmet County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 520 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Petoskey Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Petoskey 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 2019 the jail held about 77 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 103 beds, and it ran at 75 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 Emmet County Sheriff's Office at emmetcounty.org/government/sheriffs_office/index.php (page title: Sheriff's Office | Emmet County, MI), phone (231) 347-2032, 450 Bay Street, Petoskey, MI 49770, Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 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 Petoskey
An arrest in Petoskey can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Emmet County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at emmetcounty.org/government/courts/90th_district_court/index.php, phone 231-348-1750); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at emmetcounty.org/government/courts/prosecuting_attorney_s_office/ind..., phone 231-348-1725).
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 Petoskey
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 Petoskey police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at petoskey.us/services/public_safety/faqs.php (page title: Welcome to City Of Petoskey, MI), phone 800-577-1911, Monday through Friday 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Emmet County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (231) 347-2032.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 231-348-1725, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Emmet County Circuit Court, through the court records page at emmetcounty.org, phone 231-348-1750.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at emmetcounty.org (page title: FOIA Office).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Emmet County guide covers every agency in the county: Emmet County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Petoskey each year?
Petoskey reported 164 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Petoskey?
Ask the Emmet County Sheriff's Office at (231) 347-2032; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at emmetcounty.org.
Where are people arrested in Petoskey booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Emmet County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Petoskey?
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 Petoskey?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Petoskey police for its own arrests, the Emmet 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 emmetcounty.org.
Is this the official Petoskey 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.