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.
Livingston County, Michigan, has about 197,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Livingston 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 Livingston 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: Livingston County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Livingston County
The Livingston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Livingston County. It reported 375 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Livingston County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Howell, 9,914 residents: 60 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brighton, 7,933 residents: 173 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fowlerville, 2,886 residents: 48 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pinckney, 2,339 residents: 9 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 Livingston County: the Livingston County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Livingston 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.
- Livingston County Sheriff's Office: 375 for 2025, 382 for 2024, 300 for 2023, 339 for 2022, 321 for 2021 and 401 for 2020.
- Brighton: 173 for 2025, 157 for 2024, 150 for 2023, 142 for 2022, 150 for 2021 and 118 for 2020.
- Hamburg Township: 141 for 2025, 110 for 2024, 87 for 2023, 88 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 99 for 2020.
- Green Oak Township: 99 for 2025, 114 for 2024, 75 for 2023, 110 for 2022, 94 for 2021 and 100 for 2020.
- Howell: 60 for 2025, 66 for 2024, 72 for 2023, 90 for 2022, 81 for 2021 and 109 for 2020.
- Fowlerville: 48 for 2025, 73 for 2024, 64 for 2023, 97 for 2022, 167 for 2021 and 135 for 2020.
- Pinckney: 9 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 36 for 2023, 23 for 2022, 32 for 2021 and 27 for 2020.
- Unadilla Township: 1 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 11 for 2023, 12 for 2022, 16 for 2021 and 15 for 2020.
Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 906 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 906 in 2025 against 924 in 2024, down 1.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 290 arrests, against 303 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Livingston County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Livingston County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2020 the jail held about 240 people, down from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 391 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Livingston County Sheriff's Office at milivcounty.gov/jail (page title: Jail | Livingston County, MI), phone (517) 546-2445, 150 S Highlander Way Howell, MI 48843, 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 Livingston County
Whether someone was arrested in Livingston County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Livingston County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at milivcounty.gov/courts, phone (517) 546-8079); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at milivcounty.gov/prosecutor, phone (517) 546-1850).
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 Livingston 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 Livingston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (517) 546-2445.
- An arrest in Howell, Brighton, Fowlerville or Pinckney: 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 the Livingston 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) 546-1850, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Livingston County Circuit Court, through the court records page at milivcounty.gov/courts, phone (517) 546-8079.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Livingston County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Livingston County: Howell, Brighton, Fowlerville and Pinckney. The FBI's list also carries the Hamburg Township Police Department, the Green Oak Township Police Department and the Unadilla Township Police Department as city agencies in Livingston County; Hamburg Township, Green Oak Township and Unadilla Township 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 Livingston County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Livingston County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Howell (9,914)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Livingston County each year?
The Livingston County Sheriff's Office reported 375 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 906 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Livingston County?
Ask the Livingston County Sheriff's Office at (517) 546-2445; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at milivcounty.gov/jail.
Where are people arrested in Livingston County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Livingston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Livingston 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 Livingston County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Livingston 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 Livingston 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.