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 October 4, 2026.
Lake County, Michigan, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lake County Sheriff's Office 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 Lake 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: Lake County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lake County
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lake County. It reported 163 arrests for 2020, its latest complete year.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Lake County: the Lake County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Lake County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Lake County Sheriff's Office: 163 for 2020.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lake County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lake 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 16 people, down from about 28 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 48 beds, and it ran at 58 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office at lakecountymi.gov/corrections (page title: Sheriff Office Corrections | Lake County), phone (231) 745-6201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
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 Lake County
Whether someone was arrested in Lake County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Lake 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/case-search); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lakecountymi.gov/prosecutor, phone (231) 745-2775).
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 Lake 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (231) 745-6201.
- An arrest by the Lake 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, (231) 745-2775, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lake County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov/case-search.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountymi.gov/foia-requests (page title: FOIA Requests | Lake County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lake County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Lake County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Lake County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lake County each year?
The Lake County Sheriff's Office reported 163 arrests to the FBI for 2020, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lake County?
Ask the Lake County Sheriff's Office at (231) 745-6201; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountymi.gov/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Lake County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lake 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 Lake County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lake 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 lakecountymi.gov/foia-requests.
Is this the official Lake 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.