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.
Leelanau County, Michigan, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Leelanau 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 Leelanau 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: Leelanau County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Leelanau County
The Leelanau County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Leelanau County. It reported 105 arrests for 2025.
The Traverse City Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Leelanau County, so its arrests are not broken out for Leelanau County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Leelanau County: the Leelanau County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Leelanau County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Leelanau County Sheriff's Office: 105 for 2025, 139 for 2024, 112 for 2023, 132 for 2022, 134 for 2021 and 77 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
The Leelanau County Sheriff's Office's 105 arrests in 2025 were down 24 percent from 139 in 2024.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Leelanau County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Leelanau 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 2019 the jail held about 19 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 72 beds, and it ran at 26 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 Leelanau County Sheriff's Office at leelanau.gov/departments/sheriff/divisions/corrections.php (page title: leelanaucounty), phone (231) 256-8661, 8525 E. Government Center Dr. Suttons Bay, MI 49682, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Leelanau County
Whether someone was arrested in Leelanau County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: MiCOURT Case Search, the Michigan courts' statewide case search; not every court has joined, which shows whether charges were filed; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at leelanau.gov/departments/prosecutor/index.php, phone (231) 256-9872).
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 Leelanau 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 Leelanau County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (231) 256-8661.
- An arrest by the Leelanau 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) 256-9872, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Leelanau County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Leelanau 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 Leelanau County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Leelanau County each year?
The Leelanau County Sheriff's Office reported 105 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Leelanau County?
Ask the Leelanau County Sheriff's Office at (231) 256-8661; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at leelanau.gov.
Where are people arrested in Leelanau County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Leelanau County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Leelanau 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 Leelanau County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Leelanau 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 Leelanau 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.