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 on September 23, 2026.
Jackson County, Michigan, has about 160,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, seven 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 Jackson 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: Jackson County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jackson County
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jackson County. It reported 667 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:
- Jackson, 30,920 residents: 798 arrests reported for 2025.
- Springport, 823 residents: 18 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 Jackson County: the Jackson County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jackson 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.
- Norvell Township: 1,159 for 2025, 1,171 for 2024, 1,164 for 2023, 1,172 for 2022, 1,164 for 2021 and 1,176 for 2020.
- Blackman Township: 921 for 2025, 868 for 2024 and 790 for 2023.
- Jackson: 798 for 2025, 758 for 2024, 670 for 2023, 651 for 2022, 723 for 2021 and 732 for 2020.
- Jackson County Sheriff's Office: 667 for 2025, 860 for 2024, 781 for 2023, 697 for 2022, 688 for 2021 and 780 for 2020.
- Columbia Township: 116 for 2025, 95 for 2021, 120 for 2020 and 143 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Springport: 18 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 8 for 2023, 11 for 2022, 9 for 2021 and 3 for 2020.
- Spring Arbor Township: 2 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 2 for 2021 and 3 for 2020.
- Napoleon Township: 43 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 29 for 2022, 22 for 2021, 27 for 2020 and 49 for 2019.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,681 arrests that year. The six of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,565 in 2025 against 3,663 in 2024, down 2.7 percent.
Napoleon Township reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jackson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jackson 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 260 people, down from about 360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 468 beds, and it ran at 55 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 Jackson County Sheriff's Office at jacksoncountyso.com/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Jackson County Sheriff's Office), phone 877-654-8463, 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 Jackson County
An arrest in Jackson County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Jackson County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.jackson.mi.us/1278/Case-Information); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.jackson.mi.us/149/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 517-788-4283).
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 Jackson 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 Jackson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 877-654-8463.
- An arrest in Jackson or Springport: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Jackson 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, 517-788-4283, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jackson County Circuit Court, through the court records page at co.jackson.mi.us/1278/Case-Information.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at mijackson.org/1283/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Jackson County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Jackson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the seven cities in Jackson County: Jackson and Springport. Brooklyn, Grass Lake, Concord, Parma and Hanover have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Columbia Township Police Department, the Napoleon Township Police Department, the Spring Arbor Township Police Department and two more as city agencies in Jackson County; Columbia Township, Napoleon Township, Spring Arbor Township and two more are 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 Jackson County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jackson County each year?
Norvell Township reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,681 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jackson County?
Look on the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at jacksoncountyso.com/inmate-search, or call 877-654-8463. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Jackson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jackson 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 Jackson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jackson 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 mijackson.org/1283/Public-Records-Request.
Is this the official Jackson 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.