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 23, 2026.
Otsego County, Michigan, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Otsego County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and two 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 Otsego 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: Otsego County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Otsego County
The Otsego County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Otsego County. It reported 239 arrests for 2025.
One city in Otsego County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Gaylord, 4,433 residents: 322 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 these agencies in Otsego County: the Otsego County State Police (state police); Kirtland Community College at Gaylord (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Otsego 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.
- Gaylord: 322 for 2025, 382 for 2024, 324 for 2023, 339 for 2022, 289 for 2021 and 387 for 2020.
- Otsego County Sheriff's Office: 239 for 2025, 178 for 2024, 46 for 2022, 70 for 2021 and 83 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 561 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 561 in 2025 against 560 in 2024, up 0.2 percent.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 422 arrests, against 423 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Otsego County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Otsego 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 33 people, down from about 43 in 2017. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Otsego County Sheriff's Office at otsegocountymi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3509/Inmate-List-2-20-26 (page title: 20925 05/14/1976 M | Male Cell 2 W | White 11/16/2025 20689 04/07/1988 M | Male), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Otsego County
Whether someone was arrested in Otsego County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Otsego County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Otsego County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at otsegocountymi.gov/222/Case-Lookup, phone 989-731-0201); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at otsegocountymi.gov/199/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 989-731-7432).
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 Otsego 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 Otsego County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Gaylord: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Otsego County State Police or Kirtland Community College at Gaylord: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 989-731-7432, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Otsego County Circuit Court, through the court records page at otsegocountymi.gov/222/Case-Lookup, phone 989-731-0201.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Otsego County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Otsego County: Gaylord. Vanderbilt has 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 Otsego County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Otsego County each year?
Gaylord reported 322 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 561 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Otsego County?
Look on the custody page of the Otsego County Sheriff's Office at otsegocountymi.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Otsego County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Otsego County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Otsego 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 Otsego County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Otsego 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 Otsego 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.