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.
Van Buren County, Michigan, has about 76,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office, nine 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 Van Buren 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: Van Buren County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Van Buren County
The Van Buren County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Van Buren County. It reported 1,377 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists eight cities in Van Buren County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- South Haven, 4,017 residents: 307 arrests reported for 2025.
- Paw Paw, 3,408 residents: 183 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mattawan, 2,869 residents: 33 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hartford, 2,465 residents: 4 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bangor, 1,976 residents: 63 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lawton, 1,876 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
- Decatur, 1,660 residents: 32 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lawrence, 1,011 residents: 14 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 Van Buren County: the Van Buren County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Van Buren 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.
- South Haven: 307 for 2025, 281 for 2024, 396 for 2023, 304 for 2022, 160 for 2021 and 160 for 2020.
- Paw Paw: 183 for 2025, 150 for 2024, 264 for 2023, 253 for 2022, 139 for 2021 and 143 for 2020.
- Covert Township: 68 for 2025, 88 for 2024, 128 for 2023, 123 for 2022, 116 for 2021 and 91 for 2020.
- Bangor: 63 for 2025, 79 for 2024 and 78 for 2023.
- Mattawan: 33 for 2025, 41 for 2024, 49 for 2023, 71 for 2022, 51 for 2021 and 48 for 2020.
- Decatur: 32 for 2025, 50 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 41 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 49 for 2020.
- Lawrence: 14 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 3 for 2023 and 1 for 2022.
- Lawton: 9 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 22 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 6 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
- Hartford: 4 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 42 for 2023, 51 for 2022, 26 for 2021 and 33 for 2020.
- Van Buren County Sheriff's Office: 1,377 for 2024, 1,405 for 2023, 896 for 2021, 992 for 2020 and 1,724 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 713 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 713 in 2025 against 732 in 2024, down 2.6 percent.
Through August 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 405 arrests, against 449 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Van Buren County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Van Buren 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 2021 the jail held about 79 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 213 beds, and it ran at 84 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office at vanburencountymi.gov/departments/sheriff/services/jail-inmate-infor... (page title: Jail & Inmate Information | Van Buren County), phone (269) 657-8200, 219 E Paw Paw Street Paw Paw, MI 49079-1429, Monday to Friday: 8:30 AM - 5 PM, 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Van Buren County
An arrest in Van Buren County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Van Buren County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at micourt.courts.michigan.gov/CourtDisplay/Display/public/J39VW7Gr-Ea...); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at vanburencountymi.gov/departments/departments-offices/prosecuting-at..., phone (269) 657-8200).
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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (269) 657-8200.
- An arrest in South Haven, Paw Paw, Mattawan, Hartford, Bangor, Lawton or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Van Buren 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, (269) 657-8200, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Van Buren County Circuit Court, through the court records page at micourt.courts.michigan.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Van Buren County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the 11 cities in Van Buren County: South Haven, Paw Paw, Mattawan, Hartford, Bangor, Lawton, Decatur and Lawrence. Gobles, Bloomingdale and Breedsville have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Covert Township Police Department as a city agency in Van Buren County; Covert Township is 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 Van Buren County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Van Buren County each year?
South Haven reported 307 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 713 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Van Buren County?
Look on the custody page of the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office at vanburencountymi.gov, or call (269) 657-8200. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Van Buren County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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.