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.
Mackinac County, Michigan, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mackinac County Sheriff's Office, two 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 Mackinac 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: Mackinac County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mackinac County
The Mackinac County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mackinac County. It reported 36 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Mackinac County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- St. Ignace, 2,331 residents: 14 arrests reported for 2024.
- Mackinac Island, 613 residents: 6 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 Mackinac County: the Mackinac County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Mackinac 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.
- Mackinac County Sheriff's Office: 36 for 2025, 19 for 2024, 22 for 2023, 37 for 2022, 41 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
- Mackinac Island: 6 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 7 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 10 for 2021 and 8 for 2020.
- St. Ignace: 14 for 2024, 36 for 2022, 36 for 2021, 39 for 2020 and 48 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 42 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 42 in 2025 against 29 in 2024.
St. Ignace reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mackinac County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mackinac 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 10 people, down from about 18 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 25 beds, and it ran at 72 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 Mackinac County Sheriff's Office at mackinaccounty.net/departments/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Mackinac County), phone (906) 643-1911, 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 Mackinac County
Whether someone was arrested in Mackinac County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Mackinac 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/c/courts/coa/case/237461); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mackinaccounty.net/departments/courts/prosecutor, phone (906) 643-7329).
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 Mackinac 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 Mackinac County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (906) 643-1911.
- An arrest in St. Ignace or Mackinac Island: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Mackinac 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, (906) 643-7329, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Mackinac County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov/c/courts/coa/case/237461.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Mackinac County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Mackinac County: St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Mackinac County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mackinac County each year?
The Mackinac County Sheriff's Office reported 36 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 42 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mackinac County?
Ask the Mackinac County Sheriff's Office at (906) 643-1911; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mackinaccounty.net.
Where are people arrested in Mackinac County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mackinac County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mackinac 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 Mackinac County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mackinac 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 Mackinac 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.