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.
Barry County, Michigan, has about 64,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Barry County Sheriff's Office, six 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 Barry 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: Barry County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Barry County
The Barry County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Barry County. It reported 202 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Hastings, 7,513 residents: 195 arrests reported for 2025.
- Nashville, 1,609 residents: 55 arrests reported for 2021.
- Freeport, 552 residents: 1,159 arrests reported for 2025.
- Woodland, 427 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Barry County: the Barry County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Barry 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.
- Freeport: 1,159 for 2025, 1,171 for 2024, 1,164 for 2023, 1,172 for 2022, 1,164 for 2021 and 1,176 for 2020.
- Barry County Sheriff's Office: 202 for 2025, 183 for 2024, 188 for 2023, 230 for 2022, 252 for 2021 and 272 for 2020.
- Hastings: 195 for 2025, 201 for 2024, 289 for 2023, 191 for 2022, 166 for 2021 and 200 for 2020.
- Nashville: 55 for 2021, 57 for 2020 and 108 for 2019.
- Barry Township: 14 for 2021, 30 for 2020 and 29 for 2019.
- Prairieville Township: 2 for 2021, 1 for 2020 and 11 for 2019.
- Woodland: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,556 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,556 in 2025 against 1,555 in 2024, up 0.1 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 732 arrests, against 771 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Barry County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Barry 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 2019 the jail held about 78 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Barry County
An arrest in Barry County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Barry 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=1108); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at barrycounty.org/departments_and_officials/officials/prosecuting_att..., phone (269) 945-1297).
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 Barry 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 Barry County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Hastings, Nashville, Freeport or Woodland: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Barry 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) 945-1297, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Barry County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Barry County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Barry County: Hastings, Nashville, Freeport and Woodland. Middleville has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Prairieville Township Police Department and the Barry Township Police Department as city agencies in Barry County; Prairieville Township and Barry Township are not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Barry County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Barry County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Hastings (7,513)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Barry County each year?
Freeport reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,556 between them.
Where are people arrested in Barry County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Barry County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Barry 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 Barry County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Barry 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.
Is this the official Barry 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.