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.
Clare County, Michigan, has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clare County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Clare 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: Clare County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clare County
The Clare County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clare County. It reported 653 arrests for 2025.
One city in Clare County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Clare, 3,293 residents: 81 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 Clare County: the Clare County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clare 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.
- Clare County Sheriff's Office: 653 for 2025, 603 for 2024, 682 for 2023, 657 for 2022, 606 for 2021 and 574 for 2020.
- Clare: 81 for 2025, 85 for 2024, 93 for 2023, 68 for 2022, 62 for 2020 and 121 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 734 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 734 in 2025 against 688 in 2024, up 6.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 598 arrests, against 524 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clare County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Clare 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 110 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 176 beds, and it ran at 95 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 Clare County Sheriff's Office at clareco.net/department/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Clare County Michigan), phone (989) 539-7166, 255 West Main Street, Harrison, MI 48625, Monday-Friday between 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Clare County
An arrest in Clare County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Clare 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=clare+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at clareco.net/department/prosecutor, phone (989) 539-9831).
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 Clare 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 Clare County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (989) 539-7166.
- An arrest in Clare: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Clare 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) 539-9831, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clare 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 Clare County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Clare County: Clare. Harrison and Farwell 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 Clare County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clare County each year?
The Clare County Sheriff's Office reported 653 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 734 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clare County?
Ask the Clare County Sheriff's Office at (989) 539-7166; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at clareco.net/department/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Clare County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clare County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clare 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 Clare County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clare 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 Clare 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.