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.
Saginaw County, Michigan, has about 188,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Saginaw County Sheriff's Office, 14 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 Saginaw 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: Saginaw County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Saginaw County
The Saginaw County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Saginaw County. It reported 619 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists eight cities in Saginaw County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Saginaw, 43,001 residents: 887 arrests reported for 2025.
- Saginaw (township), 43,001 residents: 825 arrests reported for 2025.
- Frankenmuth, 5,185 residents: 64 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chesaning, 2,400 residents: 54 arrests reported for 2025.
- St. Charles, 1,945 residents: 18 arrests reported for 2025.
- Birch Run, 1,536 residents: 57 arrests reported for 2025.
- Zilwaukee, 1,493 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2023.
- Oakley, 289 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2021.
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 Reese Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Saginaw County, so its arrests are not broken out for Saginaw County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Saginaw County: Saginaw Valley State University (campus police); the Saginaw County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Saginaw 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.
- Saginaw: 887 for 2025, 920 for 2024, 977 for 2023, 1,009 for 2022, 990 for 2021 and 972 for 2020.
- Saginaw (township): 825 for 2025, 576 for 2024, 680 for 2023, 638 for 2022, 609 for 2021 and 643 for 2020.
- Bridgeport Township: 274 for 2025, 206 for 2024, 199 for 2023, 198 for 2022, 203 for 2021 and 152 for 2020.
- Buena Vista Township: 199 for 2025, 211 for 2024, 212 for 2023, 108 for 2022, 150 for 2021 and 171 for 2020.
- Thomas Township: 194 for 2025, 166 for 2024, 188 for 2023, 231 for 2022, 202 for 2021 and 132 for 2020.
- Carrollton Township: 85 for 2025, 85 for 2024, 65 for 2023, 107 for 2022, 115 for 2021 and 80 for 2020.
- Frankenmuth: 64 for 2025, 42 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 68 for 2022, 48 for 2021 and 24 for 2020.
- Birch Run: 57 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 32 for 2022, 50 for 2021 and 34 for 2020.
- Chesaning: 54 for 2025, 37 for 2024, 35 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 22 for 2021 and 16 for 2020.
- St. Charles: 18 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 29 for 2021 and 18 for 2020.
- Richland Township: 13 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 23 for 2022, 28 for 2021 and 19 for 2020.
- Saginaw County Sheriff's Office: 619 for 2024, 964 for 2023, 810 for 2022, 803 for 2021, 688 for 2020 and 832 for 2019.
Together, the 11 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,670 arrests that year. The ten of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,845 in 2025 against 1,724 in 2024, up 7 percent.
Through September 2026, the ten agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,875 arrests, against 2,096 in the same months of 2025.
Tittabawassee Township, Zilwaukee and Saginaw County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (9 months, 5 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Saginaw County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Saginaw 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 2022 the jail held about 430 people, up from about 390 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 513 beds, and it ran at 77 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Saginaw County
An arrest in Saginaw County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Saginaw 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=saginaw+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at saginawcountymi.gov/courts-public-safety/prosecuting-attorney, phone (989)790-5330).
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 Saginaw 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 Saginaw County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Saginaw, Saginaw (township), Frankenmuth, Chesaning, St. Charles, Birch Run or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Saginaw Valley State University or the Saginaw 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, (989)790-5330, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Saginaw County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.michigan.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Saginaw County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the eight cities in Saginaw County: Saginaw, Saginaw (township), Frankenmuth, Chesaning, St. Charles, Birch Run, Zilwaukee and Oakley. Merrill has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Bridgeport Township Police Department, the Thomas Township Police Department, the Tittabawassee Township Police Department and three more as city agencies in Saginaw County; Bridgeport Township, Thomas Township, Tittabawassee Township and three 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 Saginaw County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Saginaw County each year?
Saginaw reported 887 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 11 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,670 between them.
Where are people arrested in Saginaw County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Saginaw County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Saginaw 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 Saginaw County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Saginaw 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 Saginaw 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.