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 September 30, 2026.
Allegan County, Michigan, has about 122,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Allegan County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and one state agency. An arrest 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 Allegan County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Allegan County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Allegan County
The Allegan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Allegan County. It reported 2,349 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Allegan, 5,152 residents: 97 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wayland, 4,543 residents: 42 arrests reported for 2022.
- Otsego, 4,036 residents: 179 arrests reported for 2019.
- Plainwell, 3,736 residents: 70 arrests reported for 2025.
- Saugatuck, 879 residents: 37 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Holland Police Department and the South Haven Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Allegan County, so their arrests are not broken out for Allegan County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Allegan County: the Allegan County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Allegan County
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.
- Allegan County Sheriff's Office: 2,349 for 2025, 1,962 for 2024, 2,239 for 2023, 2,290 for 2022, 1,644 for 2021 and 1,666 for 2020.
- Allegan: 97 for 2025, 116 for 2023, 85 for 2022, 119 for 2021, 185 for 2020 and 294 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Plainwell: 70 for 2025, 35 for 2024, 77 for 2023, 69 for 2022, 37 for 2021 and 54 for 2020.
- Saugatuck: 37 for 2025, 18 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 19 for 2021 and 15 for 2020.
- Otsego: 179 for 2019.
- Wayland: 42 for 2022, 51 for 2021, 49 for 2020 and 96 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,553 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,456 in 2025 against 2,015 in 2024, up 22 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 904 arrests, against 1,421 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Allegan County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Allegan County 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 2023 the jail held about 130 people, down from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 225 beds, and it ran at 60 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 Allegan County Sheriff's Office at allegancounty.org/courts-law-enforcement/sheriff-s-office-correctio... (page title: Inmate Lookup | Allegan County, MI), phone (269) 673-0500, 640 River St. Allegan, MI 49010, 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 Allegan County
An arrest in Allegan County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Allegan County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Allegan 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/case-search/?resultType=cases&aBarNumber=1103); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at allegancounty.org/courts-law-enforcement/prosecuting-attorney, phone (269) 673-5070).
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 Allegan County
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 Allegan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (269) 673-0500.
- An arrest in Allegan, Wayland, Otsego, Plainwell or Saugatuck: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Allegan County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (269) 673-5070, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Allegan 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 allegancounty.org (page title: FOIA Requests | Allegan County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Allegan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the nine cities in Allegan County: Allegan, Wayland, Otsego, Plainwell and Saugatuck. Fennville, Douglas, Hopkins and Martin have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Allegan County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Allegan County each year?
The Allegan County Sheriff's Office reported 2,349 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,553 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Allegan County?
Look on the custody page of the Allegan County Sheriff's Office at allegancounty.org, or call (269) 673-0500. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Allegan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Allegan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Allegan County?
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 Allegan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Allegan County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 allegancounty.org.
Is this the official Allegan County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.