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.
Iosco County, Michigan, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Iosco County Sheriff's Office, three 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 Iosco 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: Iosco County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Iosco County
The Iosco County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Iosco County. It reported 17 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- East Tawas, 2,675 residents.
- Tawas City, 1,837 residents: 16 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 Iosco County: the Iosco County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Iosco County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Oscoda Township: 127 for 2025, 127 for 2024, 120 for 2023, 163 for 2022, 156 for 2021 and 167 for 2020.
- Iosco County Sheriff's Office: 17 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 37 for 2022, 2 for 2021 and 25 for 2020.
- Tawas City: 16 for 2025, 33 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 34 for 2022 and 35 for 2021.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 160 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 160 in 2025 against 188 in 2024, down 15 percent.
Through April 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 73 arrests, against 44 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Iosco County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Iosco 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 38 people, down from about 56 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 63 beds, and it ran at 89 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 Iosco County Sheriff's Office at iosco.net/sheriffs-office/jail-information (page title: Iosco County Jail | Iosco County, MI), 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 Iosco County
An arrest in Iosco County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iosco 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=caseload+reports+iosco); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at iosco.net/prosecutor, phone (989) 362-5832).
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 Iosco County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Iosco County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in East Tawas or Tawas City: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Iosco 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) 362-5832, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iosco 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 iosco.net/foia (page title: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) | Iosco County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Iosco County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Iosco County: East Tawas and Tawas City. Whittemore has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Oscoda Township Police Department as a city agency in Iosco County; Oscoda 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 Iosco County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Iosco County each year?
Oscoda Township reported 127 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 160 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Iosco County?
Ask the Iosco County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at iosco.net/sheriffs-office/jail-information.
Where are people arrested in Iosco County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Iosco County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Iosco 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 Iosco County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Iosco 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 iosco.net/foia.
Is this the official Iosco 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.