SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Ingham County, Michigan, has about 290,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ingham County Sheriff's Office, eight city agencies and three 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 Ingham 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: Ingham County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Ingham County

The Ingham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ingham County. It reported 814 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists seven cities in Ingham County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

  • Lansing (township), 114,336 residents: 169 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lansing, 114,336 residents: 1,936 arrests reported for 2025.
  • East Lansing, 48,964 residents: 492 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Mason, 8,314 residents: 39 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Williamston, 3,849 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Leslie, 1,936 residents: 19 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Stockbridge, 1,298 residents: 7 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 Ingham County: Michigan State University and Lansing Community College (campus police); the Ingham County State Police (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ingham 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.

  • Lansing: 1,936 for 2025, 2,081 for 2024, 2,089 for 2023, 1,872 for 2022, 1,786 for 2021 and 2,077 for 2020.
  • Ingham County Sheriff's Office: 814 for 2025, 809 for 2024, 741 for 2023, 656 for 2022, 606 for 2021 and 635 for 2020.
  • East Lansing: 492 for 2025, 362 for 2024, 403 for 2023, 272 for 2022, 334 for 2021 and 847 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Meridian Township: 410 for 2025, 331 for 2024, 335 for 2023, 369 for 2022, 413 for 2021 and 310 for 2020.
  • Lansing (township): 169 for 2025, 125 for 2024, 100 for 2023, 107 for 2022, 100 for 2021 and 147 for 2020.
  • Mason: 39 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 44 for 2023, 93 for 2022, 70 for 2021 and 80 for 2020.
  • Leslie: 19 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 10 for 2021 and 4 for 2020.
  • Stockbridge: 7 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 23 for 2023, 8 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
  • Williamston: 7 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 35 for 2023, 58 for 2022, 21 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.

Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,893 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,893 in 2025 against 3,785 in 2024, up 2.9 percent.

Through August 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,492 arrests, against 2,606 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Ingham County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ingham 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 300 people, down from about 410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 444 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Ingham County

Whether someone was arrested in Ingham County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Ingham 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=ingham+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pa.ingham.org/courts_and_sheriff/prosecuting_attorney, phone (517) 483-6108).

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 Ingham 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 Ingham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Lansing (township), Lansing, East Lansing, Mason, Williamston, Leslie or another of the cities listed above: 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 Michigan State University, Lansing Community College or the Ingham 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) 483-6108, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Ingham County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.ingham.org (page title: Ingham County | FOIA Requests).
  • Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

Cities in Ingham County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the eight cities in Ingham County: Lansing (township), Lansing, East Lansing, Mason, Williamston, Leslie and Stockbridge. Webberville and Dansville have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Meridian Township Police Department as a city agency in Ingham County; Meridian 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 Ingham County Circuit Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ingham County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Ingham County each year?

Lansing reported 1,936 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,893 between them.

Where are people arrested in Ingham County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ingham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Ingham 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 Ingham County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Ingham 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.ingham.org.

Is this the official Ingham 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.