SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Oakland County, Michigan, has about 1.3 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, 51 city agencies and four campus, state or other agencies. 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 Oakland 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: Oakland County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Oakland County

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Oakland County. It reported 201 arrests for 2025.

Arrests inside 37 of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Troy, 89,209 residents: 1,262 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Farmington Hills, 84,173 residents: 1,448 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Rochester Hills, 78,330 residents: 644 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Southfield, 76,874 residents: 1,672 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Novi, 67,675 residents: 820 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Pontiac, 62,528 residents: 2,801 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Royal Oak, 58,251 residents: 1,048 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Oak Park, 29,402 residents: 552 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Madison Heights, 28,626 residents: 591 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Auburn Hills, 26,047 residents: 832 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Birmingham, 22,198 residents: 219 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Ferndale, 19,431 residents: 473 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 Fenton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Oakland County, so its arrests are not broken out for Oakland County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Oakland County: Oakland University and Oakland Community College (campus police); the Oakland County State Police (state police); the Kensington Metropark Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (other).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Oakland 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.

  • Pontiac: 2,801 for 2025, 2,855 for 2024, 2,631 for 2023, 2,357 for 2022, 2,557 for 2021 and 2,865 for 2020.
  • Southfield: 1,672 for 2025, 1,429 for 2024, 1,343 for 2023, 1,046 for 2022, 1,009 for 2021 and 873 for 2020.
  • Farmington Hills: 1,448 for 2025, 1,408 for 2024, 1,538 for 2023, 1,141 for 2022, 1,069 for 2021 and 898 for 2020.
  • Troy: 1,262 for 2025, 1,320 for 2024, 1,352 for 2023, 1,247 for 2022, 1,011 for 2021 and 964 for 2020.
  • Royal Oak: 1,048 for 2025, 1,236 for 2024, 1,077 for 2023, 954 for 2022, 883 for 2021 and 804 for 2020.
  • Auburn Hills: 832 for 2025, 942 for 2024, 910 for 2023, 747 for 2022, 806 for 2021 and 706 for 2020.
  • Novi: 820 for 2025, 719 for 2024, 800 for 2023, 775 for 2022, 635 for 2021 and 633 for 2020.
  • Waterford Township: 730 for 2025, 761 for 2024, 833 for 2023, 642 for 2022, 732 for 2021 and 653 for 2020.
  • Rochester Hills: 644 for 2025, 553 for 2024, 799 for 2023, 725 for 2022, 625 for 2021 and 493 for 2020.
  • Madison Heights: 591 for 2025, 581 for 2024, 585 for 2023, 565 for 2022, 506 for 2021 and 502 for 2020.
  • Oak Park: 552 for 2025, 620 for 2024, 578 for 2023, 497 for 2022, 451 for 2021 and 408 for 2020.
  • Ferndale: 473 for 2025, 453 for 2024, 409 for 2023, 388 for 2022, 361 for 2021 and 335 for 2020.

Together, the 51 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,547 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 17,547 in 2025 against 17,660 in 2024, down 0.6 percent.

Through September 2026, the 45 agencies with every month so far on file reported 12,537 arrests, against 13,044 in the same months of 2025.

Lake Angelus reported only part of 2025 (6 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Oakland County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Oakland 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 2024 the jail held about 1,050 people, down from about 1,300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,664 beds, and it ran at 68 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 Oakland County Sheriff's Office at oaklandcountymi.gov/government/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Oakland County, MI), phone 248-647-1141, 4280 Telegraph Road Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Oakland County

An arrest in Oakland County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Oakland County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at oaklandcountymi.gov/government/clerk-register-of-deeds/court-record..., phone 248-858-0582); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at oaklandcountymi.gov/government/prosecutor/about-the-prosecutor-s-of..., phone 248-858-0656).

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 Oakland 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 Oakland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 248-647-1141.
  • An arrest in Troy, Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, Southfield, Novi, Pontiac or another of the cities listed above: 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 Oakland University, the Oakland County State Police or the Kensington Metropark Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 248-858-0656, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Oakland County Circuit Court, through the court records page at oaklandcountymi.gov, phone 248-858-0582.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at oaklandcountymi.gov/government/foia (page title: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) | Oakland County, MI).
  • Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

Cities in Oakland County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 37 of the 40 cities in Oakland County: the twelve named above and Wixom, Berkley, Hazel Park, Rochester, South Lyon, Farmington, Clawson, Beverly Hills, Walled Lake, Milford, Huntington Woods, Northville, Holly, Wolverine Lake, Bloomfield Hills, Lathrup Village, Oxford (township), Oxford, Franklin, Lake Orion, Keego Harbor, Pleasant Ridge, Orchard Lake Village, Sylvan Lake and Lake Angelus. Ortonville, Bingham Farms, Village of Clarkston and Leonard have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Addison Township Police Department, the Brandon Township Police Department, the Clarkston Police Department and 11 more as city agencies in Oakland County; Addison Township, Brandon Township, Clarkston and 11 more 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 Oakland County Circuit Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Oakland County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Oakland County each year?

Pontiac reported 2,801 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 51 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 17,547 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Oakland County?

Ask the Oakland County Sheriff's Office at 248-647-1141; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at oaklandcountymi.gov/government/sheriff.

Where are people arrested in Oakland County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Oakland 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 Oakland County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Oakland 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 oaklandcountymi.gov/government/foia.

Is this the official Oakland 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.