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.
Isabella County, Michigan, has about 65,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Isabella County Sheriff's Office, two 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 Isabella 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: Isabella County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Isabella County
The Isabella County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Isabella County. It reported 357 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
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:
- Mount Pleasant, 21,090 residents: 846 arrests reported for 2025.
- Shepherd, 1,526 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 Clare Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Isabella County, so its arrests are not broken out for Isabella County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Isabella County: Central Michigan University (campus police); the Isabella County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Isabella 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.
- Mount Pleasant: 846 for 2025, 708 for 2024, 709 for 2023, 721 for 2022, 588 for 2021 and 638 for 2020.
- Shepherd: 1 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 5 for 2023, 5 for 2022, 2 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
- Isabella County Sheriff's Office: 357 for 2023, 454 for 2022, 379 for 2021, 369 for 2020 and 296 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 847 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 847 in 2025 against 714 in 2024, up 19 percent.
Through April 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 250 arrests, against 304 in the same months of 2025.
Isabella County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (5 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Isabella County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Isabella 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 2022 the jail held about 140 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 196 beds, and it ran at 88 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Isabella County Sheriff's Office at isabellacounty.org/law-justice/sheriffs-office/jail-inmate-services... (page title: Inmate Search | Isabella County Michigan), phone (989) 772-5915, 5270 E. Remus Rd. Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Isabella County
An arrest in Isabella County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Isabella County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Isabella 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/CourtDisplay/Display/public/OgnD1N5QJUG...); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at isabellacounty.org/law-justice/prosecuting-attorney, phone (989) 317-4085).
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 Isabella 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 Isabella County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (989) 772-5915.
- An arrest in Mount Pleasant or Shepherd: 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 Central Michigan University or the Isabella 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) 317-4085, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Isabella 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 Isabella County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Isabella County: Mount Pleasant and Shepherd. Lake Isabella and Rosebush 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 Isabella County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Isabella County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Mount Pleasant (21,090)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Isabella County each year?
Mount Pleasant reported 846 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 847 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Isabella County?
Look on the custody page of the Isabella County Sheriff's Office at isabellacounty.org, or call (989) 772-5915. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Isabella County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Isabella County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Isabella 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 Isabella County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Isabella 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 Isabella 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.