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.
Berrien County, Michigan, has about 153,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Berrien County Sheriff's Office, 18 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 Berrien 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: Berrien County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Berrien County
The Berrien County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Berrien County. It reported 869 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside 15 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, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:
- Niles, 11,738 residents: 423 arrests reported for 2025.
- Benton Harbor, 8,848 residents: 610 arrests reported for 2025.
- St. Joseph, 7,930 residents: 171 arrests reported for 2025.
- St. Joseph (township), 7,930 residents: 80 arrests reported for 2025.
- Buchanan, 4,169 residents: 51 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bridgman, 2,048 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
- Berrien Springs, 1,786 residents: 79 arrests reported for 2025.
- Watervliet, 1,707 residents: 31 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Buffalo, 1,695 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2025.
- Coloma, 1,422 residents: 75 arrests reported for 2025.
- Three Oaks, 1,396 residents: 19 arrests reported for 2025.
- Baroda, 913 residents: 47 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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Berrien County: the Berrien County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Berrien 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.
- Berrien County Sheriff's Office: 869 for 2025, 823 for 2024, 722 for 2023, 699 for 2022, 884 for 2021 and 996 for 2020.
- Benton Township: 774 for 2025, 651 for 2024, 799 for 2023, 678 for 2022, 655 for 2021 and 614 for 2020.
- Benton Harbor: 610 for 2025, 618 for 2024, 609 for 2023, 608 for 2022, 362 for 2021 and 357 for 2020.
- Niles: 423 for 2025, 464 for 2024, 523 for 2023, 498 for 2022, 551 for 2021 and 571 for 2020.
- St. Joseph: 171 for 2025, 192 for 2024, 145 for 2023, 192 for 2022, 124 for 2021 and 154 for 2020.
- Lincoln Township: 140 for 2025, 130 for 2024, 133 for 2023, 101 for 2022, 65 for 2021 and 37 for 2020.
- St. Joseph (township): 80 for 2025, 90 for 2024, 136 for 2023, 152 for 2022, 80 for 2021 and 63 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Berrien Springs: 79 for 2025, 85 for 2024, 89 for 2023, 88 for 2022, 93 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
- Coloma: 75 for 2025, 151 for 2024, 181 for 2023, 177 for 2022, 201 for 2021 and 177 for 2020.
- Buchanan: 51 for 2025, 54 for 2024, 80 for 2023, 61 for 2022, 60 for 2021 and 55 for 2020.
- Baroda: 47 for 2025, 38 for 2024, 33 for 2023, 20 for 2022, 41 for 2021 and 43 for 2020.
- Chikaming Township: 40 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 55 for 2023, 81 for 2022, 64 for 2021 and 61 for 2020.
Together, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,464 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,464 in 2025 against 3,460 in 2024, up 0.1 percent.
Through September 2026, the 14 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,889 arrests, against 2,271 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Berrien County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Berrien 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 2022 the jail held about 340 people, down from about 380 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 341 beds, and it ran at 111 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 Berrien County Sheriff's Office at berriencountymi.gov/558/Inmate-Search (page title: Inmate Search | Berrien County, MI), phone 269-983-7141, 919 Port Street St. Joseph, MI 49085, 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 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 Berrien County
An arrest in Berrien County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Berrien County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Berrien 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/search/?searchQuery=criminal+berrien+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at berriencountymi.gov/m/directory/department?did=19, phone 269-983-7111).
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 Berrien 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 Berrien County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 269-983-7141.
- An arrest in Niles, Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, St. Joseph (township), Buchanan, Bridgman or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Berrien 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, 269-983-7111, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Berrien 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 Berrien County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 15 of the 17 cities in Berrien County: the twelve named above and Eau Claire, Galien and Grand Beach. Stevensville, Shoreham and Michiana have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Benton Township Police Department, the Lincoln Township Police Department and the Chikaming Township Police Department as city agencies in Berrien County; Benton Township, Lincoln Township and Chikaming 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 Berrien County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Berrien County each year?
The Berrien County Sheriff's Office reported 869 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 18 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,464 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Berrien County?
Look on the custody page of the Berrien County Sheriff's Office at berriencountymi.gov/558/Inmate-Search, or call 269-983-7141. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Berrien County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Berrien County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Berrien 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 Berrien County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Berrien 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 Berrien 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.