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). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bay County is held at the county jail, run by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Bay County public records, Bay County arrest records, Bay County warrants, Bay County criminal records, Bay County court records, Michigan arrest records and Michigan inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Bay County
The county jail, run by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Bay County, from every agency.
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.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at (989) 895-4050.
The Bay County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Bay County has about 103,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 12 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Bay County Jail
The Bay County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Bay City, Essexville and Pinconning make the arrests that end in a booking in Bay County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bay County: Delta College (campus police); the Bay County State Police (state police).
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 largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Bay City's 1,187 for 2025, the Bay County Sheriff's Office's 498 for 2025 and Hampton Township's 66 for 2025.
Together, the four agencies in Bay County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,767 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Bay County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Bay County serves the sentence in a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate 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.
How many people are in the Bay County jail?
About 120 on an average day in 2020, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 249 beds.
What is the phone number for the Bay County jail?
(989) 895-4050, the number on the page of the Bay County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Bay County go?
To a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
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.