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.
Clinton County, Michigan, has about 80,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, six 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 Clinton 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: Clinton County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clinton County
The Clinton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clinton County. It reported 285 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- St. Johns, 7,723 residents: 52 arrests reported for 2025.
- DeWitt, 4,780 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- DeWitt (township), 4,780 residents: 154 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ovid, 1,489 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2021.
- Elsie, 947 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2021.
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 East Lansing Police Department and the Lansing Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Clinton County, so their arrests are not broken out for Clinton County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Clinton County: the Clinton County State Police (state police); the Capitol Region Airport Authority (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clinton 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.
- Clinton County Sheriff's Office: 285 for 2025, 294 for 2024, 289 for 2023, 261 for 2022, 224 for 2021 and 260 for 2020.
- DeWitt (township): 154 for 2025, 178 for 2024, 202 for 2023, 216 for 2022, 145 for 2021 and 124 for 2020.
- Bath Township: 60 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 58 for 2023, 56 for 2022, 63 for 2021 and 45 for 2020.
- St. Johns: 52 for 2025, 46 for 2024, 24 for 2023, 37 for 2022, 51 for 2021 and 69 for 2020.
- DeWitt: 11 for 2025, 7 for 2023, 20 for 2022, 8 for 2021, 11 for 2020 and 24 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Ovid: 7 for 2021, 5 for 2020 and 9 for 2019.
- Elsie: 5 for 2021, 4 for 2020 and 1 for 2019.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 562 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 551 in 2025 against 597 in 2024, down 7.7 percent.
Through June 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 211 arrests, against 248 in the same months of 2025.
Ovid reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clinton County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Clinton 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 130 people, down from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 236 beds, and it ran at 93 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Clinton County
An arrest in Clinton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Clinton County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at micourt.courts.michigan.gov/court-display/display/public/mVZlbvvvSE...); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at clinton-county.org/340/Prosecuting-Attorneys-Office, phone 989-224-5100).
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 Clinton 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 Clinton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in St. Johns, DeWitt, DeWitt (township), Ovid or Elsie: 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 Clinton County State Police or the Capitol Region Airport Authority: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 989-224-5100, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clinton County Circuit Court, through the court records page at micourt.courts.michigan.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Clinton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the eight cities in Clinton County: St. Johns, DeWitt, DeWitt (township), Ovid and Elsie. Fowler, Westphalia, Maple Rapids and Eagle have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Bath Township Police Department as a city agency in Clinton County; Bath 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 Clinton County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Clinton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- St. Johns (7,723)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clinton County each year?
The Clinton County Sheriff's Office reported 285 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 562 between them.
Where are people arrested in Clinton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clinton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clinton 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 Clinton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clinton 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 Clinton 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.