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 October 4, 2026.
Ottawa County, Michigan, has about 306,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies 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 Ottawa 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: Ottawa County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ottawa County
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ottawa County. It reported 2,780 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Holland, 35,023 residents: 659 arrests reported for 2024.
- Grand Haven, 11,045 residents: 115 arrests reported for 2025.
- Zeeland, 5,637 residents: 40 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 Ottawa County: Grand Valley State University (campus police); the Ottawa County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ottawa 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.
- Ottawa County Sheriff's Office: 2,780 for 2025, 2,361 for 2024, 2,784 for 2023, 3,041 for 2022, 2,554 for 2021 and 2,883 for 2020.
- Grand Haven: 115 for 2025, 202 for 2023, 189 for 2022, 220 for 2021 and 240 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
- Zeeland: 40 for 2025, 42 for 2024, 41 for 2023, 43 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
- Holland: 659 for 2024, 637 for 2023, 650 for 2022, 577 for 2021, 634 for 2020 and 872 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,935 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,820 in 2025 against 2,403 in 2024, up 17 percent.
Holland reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ottawa County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ottawa 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 2023 the jail held about 290 people, down from about 320 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 462 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at miottawa.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Ottawa County, MI), phone (616) 738-4000, 12220 Fillmore St West Olive, MI 49460, Monday 8:00am to 5:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Ottawa County
Whether someone was arrested in Ottawa County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Ottawa 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=ottawa+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at miottawa.org/department/prosecuting-attorney).
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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (616) 738-4000.
- An arrest in Holland, Grand Haven or Zeeland: 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 Grand Valley State University or the Ottawa 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Ottawa County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at miottawa.org (page title: Search & Request Records | Ottawa County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Ottawa County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Ottawa County: Holland, Grand Haven and Zeeland. Hudsonville, Coopersville, Ferrysburg and Spring Lake 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 Ottawa County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ottawa County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Holland (35,023)
- Grand Haven (11,045)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ottawa County each year?
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office reported 2,780 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,935 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ottawa County?
Ask the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at (616) 738-4000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at miottawa.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Ottawa County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ottawa 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 Ottawa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ottawa 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 miottawa.org.
Is this the official Ottawa 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.