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 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Holmes County, Mississippi, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Holmes County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and one campus 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Holmes 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: Holmes County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Holmes County
The Holmes County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Holmes County. It reported 0 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Durant, 1,973 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tchula, 1,648 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lexington, 1,407 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pickens, 819 residents: 1,152 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 Holmes County: Holmes Community College at Goodman (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Holmes 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.
- Tchula: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Pickens: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Durant: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Lexington: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Holmes County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2025.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,608 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,608 in 2025 against 4,608 in 2024.
Through September 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,664 arrests, against 3,456 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Holmes County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Holmes 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 2022 the jail held about 29 people, down from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022 was 63 beds, and it ran at 47 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 Holmes County Sheriff's Office at holmescountyms.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Holmes County), phone 662-834-1511, 23234 Highway 12 East Lexington MS 39095, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Holmes County
For Holmes County the place to look is the case index of the Holmes County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at holmescountyms.org/courts, phone 662-834-1285).
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 Holmes 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 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 Holmes County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 662-834-1511.
- An arrest in Durant, Tchula, Lexington or Pickens: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Holmes Community College at Goodman: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Holmes County Circuit Court, through the court records page at holmescountyms.org/courts, phone 662-834-1285.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
Cities in Holmes County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the seven cities in Holmes County: Durant, Tchula, Lexington and Pickens. Goodman, Cruger and West 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 Holmes County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Holmes County each year?
Tchula reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,608 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Holmes County?
Ask the Holmes County Sheriff's Office at 662-834-1511; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at holmescountyms.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Holmes County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Holmes County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Holmes County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Holmes 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 Holmes County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Holmes County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Holmes 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.