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 30, 2026.
Ontonagon County, Michigan, has about 5,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office 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 Ontonagon 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: Ontonagon County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ontonagon County
The Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ontonagon County. It reported 11 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Ontonagon County: the Ontonagon County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office: 11 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 16 for 2023, 20 for 2022, 15 for 2021 and 10 for 2020.
Through July 2026, Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office reported 3 arrests, against 4 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ontonagon County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ontonagon 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 5 people, down from about 12 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 19 beds, and it ran at 63 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 Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office at ontonagoncounty.org/county-offices/sheriff-department (page title: Sheriff Department | Ontonagon County), phone 906-884-4901, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Ontonagon County
Whether someone was arrested in Ontonagon County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: MiCOURT Case Search, the Michigan courts' statewide case search; not every court has joined, which shows whether charges were filed; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ontonagoncounty.org/county-offices/prosecutor, phone (906)884-4155).
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 Ontonagon 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 Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 906-884-4901.
- An arrest by the Ontonagon 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)884-4155, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Ontonagon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Ontonagon County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Ontonagon County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ontonagon County each year?
The Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office reported 11 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ontonagon County?
Ask the Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office at 906-884-4901; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ontonagoncounty.org.
Where are people arrested in Ontonagon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ontonagon 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 Ontonagon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ontonagon 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 Ontonagon 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.