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 24, 2026.
Jackson County, Mississippi, has about 147,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, four 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Jackson 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: Jackson County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jackson County
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jackson County. It reported 2,360 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists four cities in Jackson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Pascagoula, 21,476 residents: 1,056 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gautier, 19,055 residents: 273 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ocean Springs, 18,954 residents: 1,023 arrests reported for 2022.
- Moss Point, 11,791 residents.
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 Jackson County: Singing River Health System (other); Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Jackson County (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jackson 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.
- Pascagoula: 1,056 for 2025, 1,042 for 2024, 1,047 for 2023, 1,123 for 2022, 1,023 for 2021 and 1,466 for 2020.
- Gautier: 273 for 2025, 270 for 2024, 470 for 2022, 378 for 2021, 722 for 2020 and 943 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Jackson County Sheriff's Office: 2,360 for 2019.
- Ocean Springs: 1,023 for 2022, 903 for 2021, 765 for 2020 and 923 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,312 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,042 in 2024 against 1,047 in 2023, down 0.5 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jackson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jackson 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 350 people, up from about 330 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 712 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 custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at co.jackson.ms.us/324/Inmate-Lookup (page title: Inmate Lookup | Jackson County, MS), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Jackson County
Whether someone was arrested in Jackson County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Jackson 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); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.jackson.ms.us/560/District-Attorney, phone 228-769-3345).
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 Jackson 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 Jackson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs or Moss Point: 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 Singing River Health System or Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Jackson County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 228-769-3345, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jackson County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.ms.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
The other Jackson County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Jackson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Jackson County: Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs and Moss Point.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Jackson County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jackson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Gautier (19,055)
- Ocean Springs (18,954)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jackson County each year?
Pascagoula reported 1,056 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Jackson County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 1,312 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jackson County?
Look on the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at co.jackson.ms.us/324/Inmate-Lookup. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Jackson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jackson County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Jackson 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 Jackson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jackson 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 Jackson 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.