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.
Houghton County, Michigan, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Houghton County Sheriff's Office, four 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 Houghton 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: Houghton County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Houghton County
The Houghton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Houghton County. It reported 68 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Houghton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Houghton, 8,543 residents: 48 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hancock, 4,620 residents: 60 arrests reported for 2025.
- Laurium, 1,904 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lake Linden, 1,051 residents: 1 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 these agencies in Houghton County: Michigan Technological University (campus police); the Houghton County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Houghton 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.
- Houghton County Sheriff's Office: 68 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 106 for 2023, 137 for 2022, 70 for 2021 and 92 for 2020.
- Hancock: 60 for 2025, 56 for 2024, 42 for 2023, 70 for 2022, 26 for 2021 and 47 for 2020.
- Houghton: 48 for 2025, 49 for 2024, 93 for 2023, 91 for 2022, 59 for 2021 and 57 for 2020.
- Laurium: 6 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 10 for 2023, 8 for 2022, 7 for 2021 and 10 for 2020.
- Lake Linden: 1 for 2025, 1 for 2023, 1 for 2021, 1 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 183 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 182 in 2025 against 194 in 2024, down 6.2 percent.
Through May 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 60 arrests, against 69 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Houghton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Houghton County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2020 the jail held about 18 people, down from about 44 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2018, the last year with a capacity figure, was 54 beds, and it ran at 81 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 Houghton County Sheriff's Office at houghtonsheriff.com/corrections (page title: Corrections | Houghton County Sheriff's Office), phone (906) 482-1742, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Houghton County
An arrest in Houghton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Houghton 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=houghton); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at houghtoncounty.net/directory-prosecuting-attorney.php, phone 906-482-3214).
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 Houghton 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 Houghton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (906) 482-1742.
- An arrest in Houghton, Hancock, Laurium or Lake Linden: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Michigan Technological University or the Houghton 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, 906-482-3214, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Houghton 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 Houghton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the seven cities in Houghton County: Houghton, Hancock, Laurium and Lake Linden. South Range, Calumet and Copper City 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 Houghton County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Houghton County each year?
The Houghton County Sheriff's Office reported 68 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 183 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Houghton County?
Ask the Houghton County Sheriff's Office at (906) 482-1742; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at houghtonsheriff.com/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Houghton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Houghton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Houghton 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 Houghton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Houghton 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 Houghton 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.