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.
Mason County, Michigan, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mason County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Mason 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: Mason County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mason County
The Mason County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mason County. It reported 413 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Mason County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Ludington, 7,577 residents: 368 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 Mason County: the Mason County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Mason 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.
- Mason County Sheriff's Office: 413 for 2025, 350 for 2024, 342 for 2023, 327 for 2022, 393 for 2021 and 278 for 2020.
- Ludington: 368 for 2025, 382 for 2024, 297 for 2023, 274 for 2022, 250 for 2021 and 223 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 781 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 781 in 2025 against 732 in 2024, up 6.7 percent.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 596 arrests, against 592 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mason County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mason 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 2019 the jail held about 58 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 110 beds, and it ran at 53 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 Mason County Sheriff's Office at masoncounty.net/departments/sheriff (page title: Mason County), phone 800-542-4600, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Michigan Department of Corrections lists its inmates at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Mason County
An arrest in Mason County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Mason 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/search/?searchQuery=mason); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at masoncountymi.gov/courts/prosecuting_attorney/index.php, phone (231) 845-7377).
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 Mason 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 Mason County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 800-542-4600.
- An arrest in Ludington: 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 Mason 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) 845-7377, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Mason County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov/search/?searchQuery=mason.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at masoncountymi.gov (page title: Mason County).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Mason County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Mason County: Ludington. Scottville, Custer, Fountain and Free Soil have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Mason County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Mason County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Ludington (7,577)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mason County each year?
The Mason County Sheriff's Office reported 413 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 781 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mason County?
Ask the Mason County Sheriff's Office at 800-542-4600; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at masoncounty.net/departments/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Mason County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mason County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mason 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 Mason County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mason 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 masoncountymi.gov.
Is this the official Mason 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.