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 October 1, 2026.
Jones County, Mississippi, has about 66,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jones County Sheriff's Office, three 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 Jones 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: Jones County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jones County
The Jones County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jones County. It reported 333 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Jones County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Laurel, 17,508 residents: 1,165 arrests reported for 2023.
- Ellisville, 4,434 residents: 86 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sandersville, 615 residents: 25 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 Jones County: Jones County Junior College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jones 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.
- Jones County Sheriff's Office: 333 for 2025.
- Ellisville: 86 for 2025, 148 for 2024, 120 for 2023 and 104 for 2022.
- Sandersville: 25 for 2025, 24 for 2022, 32 for 2021 and 24 for 2020; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Laurel: 1,165 for 2023, 1,587 for 2022, 1,468 for 2021, 1,274 for 2020 and 2,161 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 444 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 86 in 2025 against 148 in 2024, down 42 percent.
Laurel reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jones County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jones 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 2018 the jail held about 210 people. Its rated capacity in 2018 was 148 beds, and it ran at 141 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 Jones County Sheriff's Office at jonesso.com/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=desc/1 (page title: Inmate Roster | Jones County Sheriff MS | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 601-428-7867, 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 Jones County
An arrest in Jones County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Jones County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Jones 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 wdam.com/story/26431605/jones-county-assistant-district-attorney-po...).
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 Jones 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 Jones County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 601-428-7867.
- An arrest in Laurel, Ellisville or Sandersville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Jones County Junior College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jones 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.
Cities in Jones County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Jones County: Laurel, Ellisville and Sandersville. Soso has 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 Jones County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jones County each year?
The Jones County Sheriff's Office reported 333 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 444 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jones County?
Look on the custody page of the Jones County Sheriff's Office at jonesso.com, or call 601-428-7867. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Jones County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jones County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jones County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Jones 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 Jones County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jones 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 Jones 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.