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.
Bay County, Michigan, has about 103,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and two campus, state or other agencies. 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 Bay 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: Bay County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bay County
The Bay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bay County. It reported 498 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Bay County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Bay City, 32,086 residents: 1,187 arrests reported for 2025.
- Essexville, 3,302 residents: 16 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pinconning, 1,185 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2019.
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 Midland Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Bay County, so its arrests are not broken out for Bay County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bay County: Delta College (campus police); the Bay County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bay County
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.
- Bay City: 1,187 for 2025, 1,083 for 2024, 1,008 for 2023, 854 for 2022, 789 for 2021 and 771 for 2020.
- Bay County Sheriff's Office: 498 for 2025, 488 for 2024, 584 for 2023, 468 for 2022, 449 for 2021 and 548 for 2020.
- Hampton Township: 66 for 2025, 53 for 2024, 66 for 2023, 65 for 2022, 52 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
- Essexville: 16 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 13 for 2022, 64 for 2021, 63 for 2020 and 40 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Pinconning: 5 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,767 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,767 in 2025 against 1,644 in 2024, up 7.5 percent.
Through September 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,228 arrests, against 1,347 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bay County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bay 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 2020 the jail held about 120 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 249 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 Bay County Sheriff's Office at baycountymi.gov/courts_law/sheriff/index.php (page title: Bay County, MI), phone (989) 895-4050, 503 Third St., Bay City, MI 48708, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Bay County
An arrest in Bay County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Bay County Circuit Court, kept by the County Clerk, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at baycountymi.gov/courts_law/prosecutor.php, phone (989) 895-4185).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at courtpmt.baycounty.net/c74/c74_cases.php (page title: Bay County Courts, Michigan), belongs to a lower court, not to the Bay County Circuit Court.
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 Bay County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Bay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (989) 895-4050.
- An arrest in Bay City, Essexville or Pinconning: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Delta College or the Bay 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, (989) 895-4185, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Bay County Circuit Court it is kept by the County Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at courtpmt.baycounty.net/c74/c74_cases.php, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at baycountymi.gov (page title: Bay County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Bay County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Bay County: Bay City, Essexville and Pinconning. Auburn has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Hampton Township Police Department as a city agency in Bay County; Hampton Township is 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 Bay County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bay County each year?
Bay City reported 1,187 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,767 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bay County?
Ask the Bay County Sheriff's Office at (989) 895-4050; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at baycountymi.gov/courts_law/sheriff/index.php.
Where are people arrested in Bay County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bay 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 Bay County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bay 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 baycountymi.gov.
Is this the official Bay 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.