Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2023. 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 24, 2026 and September 27, 2026.
Brookhaven, Mississippi, in Lincoln County, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Lincoln County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Brookhaven public records, Lincoln County arrest records, Mississippi arrest records and Mississippi inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Brookhaven
The FBI lists Brookhaven with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Brookhaven Police Department. It reported 208 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 88 arrests for 2023.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Lincoln County: Brookhaven Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division (state agency).
How Many Arrests Brookhaven Reports
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.
- Brookhaven: 208 for 2023, 338 for 2022, 598 for 2021, 429 for 2020 and 467 for 2019.
Brookhaven's 208 arrests in 2023 were down 38 percent from 338 in 2022.
Across Lincoln County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 296 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Brookhaven Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Brookhaven 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 86 people, down from about 97 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 125 beds, and it ran at 69 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at lincolncountysheriffms.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_ti... (page title: Inmate Roster | Lincoln County Sheriff's Office MS | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 601.823.0150, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Mississippi Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdoc.ms.gov/inmate_search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Brookhaven
An arrest in Brookhaven can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Lincoln County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.ms.gov/mec/mec.php, phone 601-968-6628); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.pike.ms.us/district-attorney, phone 601-783-6677).
Mississippi does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Criminal Information Center goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Brookhaven
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Mississippi Public Records Act the agency must answer within 7 working days, or up to 14 where local rules allow, and it may charge the actual cost of search, review and copying.
- An arrest by the Brookhaven police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at brookhaven-ms.gov/about-brookhaven/police-department-contact-inform... (page title: Police Department Contact Information | Brookhaven Mississippi), phone 601-833-2424, 440 Highway 51 South Brookhaven, MS 39601, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 601.823.0150.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 601-783-6677, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lincoln County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.ms.gov/mec/mec.php, phone 601-968-6628.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
The Lincoln County guide covers every agency in the county: Lincoln County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Brookhaven each year?
Brookhaven reported 208 arrests to the FBI for 2023, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Brookhaven?
Look on the custody page of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at lincolncountysheriffms.org, or call 601.823.0150. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Brookhaven booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Brookhaven?
The court files of criminal cases in the Lincoln County Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Criminal Information Center is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Mississippi Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Brookhaven?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Brookhaven police for its own arrests, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Mississippi Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 working days, or up to 14 where local rules allow.
Is this the official Brookhaven website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.