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.
Oceana County, Michigan, has about 27,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Oceana 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 Oceana 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: Oceana County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Oceana County
The Oceana County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Oceana County. It reported 580 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists seven cities in Oceana County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Shelby, 2,176 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hart, 2,059 residents: 77 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hesperia, 977 residents: 30 arrests reported for 2021.
- Pentwater, 899 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Era, 462 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rothbury, 450 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2025.
- Walkerville, 273 residents: 1,159 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 Oceana County: the Oceana County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Oceana 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.
- Walkerville: 1,159 for 2025, 1,171 for 2024, 1,164 for 2023, 1,172 for 2022, 1,164 for 2021 and 1,176 for 2020.
- Oceana County Sheriff's Office: 580 for 2025, 631 for 2024, 484 for 2023, 383 for 2022, 334 for 2021 and 308 for 2020.
- Hart: 77 for 2025, 90 for 2024, 118 for 2023, 110 for 2022, 78 for 2021 and 64 for 2020.
- Shelby: 13 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 13 for 2023, 39 for 2022, 37 for 2021 and 21 for 2020.
- Rothbury: 7 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 7 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 2 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
- Pentwater: 6 for 2025, 4 for 2024, 2 for 2023, 4 for 2022, 9 for 2021 and 3 for 2020.
- New Era: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
- Hesperia: 30 for 2021, 34 for 2020 and 7 for 2019.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,842 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,842 in 2025 against 1,910 in 2024, down 3.6 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Oceana County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Oceana 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 24 people, down from about 67 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 66 beds, and it ran at 102 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 Oceana County Sheriff's Office at oceana.mi.us/courts-sheriff/sheriff (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Oceana County Michigan), phone (231) 873-2121, 216 Lincoln Street Hart, MI 49420, Monday - Friday: 8 AM - 4 PM, 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 Oceana County
An arrest in Oceana County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Oceana County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at oceana.mi.us/courts-sheriff/courts/circuit-court/record-searches, phone (231) 873-3977); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at oceana.mi.us/courts-sheriff/courts/prosecuting-attorney, phone (231) 873-4608).
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 Oceana 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 Oceana County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (231) 873-2121.
- An arrest in Shelby, Hart, Hesperia, Pentwater, New Era, Rothbury or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Oceana 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) 873-4608, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Oceana County Circuit Court, through the court records page at oceana.mi.us, phone (231) 873-3977.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Oceana County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the seven cities in Oceana County: Shelby, Hart, Hesperia, Pentwater, New Era, Rothbury and Walkerville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Oceana County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Oceana County each year?
Walkerville reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,842 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Oceana County?
Ask the Oceana County Sheriff's Office at (231) 873-2121; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at oceana.mi.us/courts-sheriff/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Oceana County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Oceana County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Oceana 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 Oceana County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Oceana 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 Oceana 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.