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 September 30, 2026.
Washtenaw County, Michigan, has about 374,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, seven city agencies and five 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 Washtenaw 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: Washtenaw County public records, Michigan arrest records, Michigan inmate search and Michigan criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washtenaw County
The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washtenaw County. It reported 1,014 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Washtenaw County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ann Arbor, 122,925 residents: 1,263 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ypsilanti, 20,150 residents: 233 arrests reported for 2025.
- Saline, 9,101 residents: 67 arrests reported for 2025.
- Milan, 6,048 residents: 73 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chelsea, 5,393 residents: 45 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 Washtenaw County: the Hudson Mills Metropark Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (other); Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (campus police); the Washtenaw County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washtenaw 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.
- Ann Arbor: 1,263 for 2025, 1,288 for 2024, 1,530 for 2023, 1,237 for 2022, 1,116 for 2021 and 998 for 2020.
- Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office: 1,014 for 2025, 1,133 for 2024, 1,209 for 2023, 1,325 for 2022, 1,207 for 2021 and 1,065 for 2020.
- Pittsfield Township: 588 for 2025, 569 for 2024, 581 for 2023, 495 for 2022, 540 for 2021 and 520 for 2020.
- Ypsilanti: 233 for 2025, 148 for 2024, 359 for 2023, 453 for 2022, 579 for 2021 and 651 for 2020.
- Northfield Township: 125 for 2025, 89 for 2024, 86 for 2023, 61 for 2022, 48 for 2020 and 56 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Milan: 73 for 2025, 90 for 2024, 134 for 2023, 152 for 2022, 253 for 2021 and 181 for 2020.
- Saline: 67 for 2025, 57 for 2024, 85 for 2023, 66 for 2022, 75 for 2021 and 63 for 2020.
- Chelsea: 45 for 2025, 33 for 2024, 41 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 18 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.
Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,408 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,408 in 2025 against 3,407 in 2024.
Through September 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,947 arrests, against 2,322 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washtenaw County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Washtenaw 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 2023 the jail held about 320 people, down from about 380 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 407 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office at washtenaw.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Washtenaw County, MI), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Washtenaw County
Whether someone was arrested in Washtenaw County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Washtenaw 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=washtenaw+county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at washtenaw.org/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 Washtenaw 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 Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Saline, Milan or Chelsea: 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 the Hudson Mills Metropark Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority, Eastern Michigan University or the Washtenaw 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 Washtenaw 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 washtenaw.org/records-request-0 (page title: Records Request | Washtenaw County, MI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Washtenaw County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the eight cities in Washtenaw County: Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Saline, Milan and Chelsea. Dexter, Manchester and Barton Hills have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Pittsfield Township Police Department and the Northfield Township Police Department as city agencies in Washtenaw County; Pittsfield Township and Northfield Township 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 Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Washtenaw County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washtenaw County each year?
Ann Arbor reported 1,263 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,408 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Washtenaw County?
Ask the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at washtenaw.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Washtenaw County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Washtenaw 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 Washtenaw County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washtenaw 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 washtenaw.org/records-request-0.
Is this the official Washtenaw 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.