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.
Hillsdale County, Michigan, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office, five 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 Hillsdale 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: Hillsdale County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hillsdale County
The Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hillsdale County. It reported 257 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Hillsdale County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Hillsdale, 7,983 residents: 257 arrests reported for 2025.
- Jonesville, 2,167 residents: 23 arrests reported for 2025.
- Litchfield, 1,390 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2025.
- Reading, 1,080 residents: 2 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 Hillsdale County: the Hillsdale County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hillsdale 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.
- Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office: 257 for 2025, 239 for 2024, 324 for 2023, 307 for 2022, 509 for 2021 and 389 for 2020.
- Hillsdale: 257 for 2025, 225 for 2024, 199 for 2023, 191 for 2022, 349 for 2021 and 247 for 2020.
- Jonesville: 23 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 47 for 2023, 84 for 2022, 71 for 2021 and 47 for 2020.
- Somerset Township: 18 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 14 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 6 for 2020.
- Litchfield: 5 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 6 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 9 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
- Reading: 2 for 2025, 5 for 2024, 4 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 562 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 562 in 2025 against 510 in 2024, up 10 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hillsdale County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hillsdale 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 2023 the jail held about 68 people, up from about 68 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 67 beds, and it ran at 101 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 Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office at hillsdalecounty.gov/index.php/m-hcso-jail/m-jail-services (page title: HCSO Jail Services), phone 517-437-7317, 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 Hillsdale County
An arrest in Hillsdale County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Hillsdale 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 hillsdalecounty.gov/index.php/tm-courts/m-prosecutor/a-pa-victim-se..., phone 517-437-7758).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at courts.michigan.gov/case-search/?resultType=cases&aBarNumber=1130 (page title: Hillsdale County Court Records | Michigan Courts), belongs to a lower court, not to the Hillsdale 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 Hillsdale 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 Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 517-437-7317.
- An arrest in Hillsdale, Jonesville, Litchfield or Reading: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Hillsdale 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, 517-437-7758, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Hillsdale County Circuit Court it is kept by the County Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at courts.michigan.gov, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hillsdale County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the nine cities in Hillsdale County: Hillsdale, Jonesville, Litchfield and Reading. Waldron, Camden, North Adams, Montgomery and Allen have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Somerset Township Police Department as a city agency in Hillsdale County; Somerset 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 Hillsdale County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hillsdale County each year?
The Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office reported 257 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 562 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hillsdale County?
Ask the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office at 517-437-7317; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hillsdalecounty.gov.
Where are people arrested in Hillsdale County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hillsdale 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 Hillsdale County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hillsdale 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 Hillsdale 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.