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.
Leake County, Mississippi, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Leake County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Leake 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: Leake County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Leake County
The Leake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Leake County. It reported 141 arrests for 2025.
One city in Leake County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Carthage, 4,855 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Leake 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.
- Carthage: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Leake County Sheriff's Office: 141 for 2025, 231 for 2024, 241 for 2023, 212 for 2022, 424 for 2021 and 321 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,293 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,293 in 2025 against 1,383 in 2024, down 6.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 681 arrests, against 759 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Leake County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Leake 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 430 people, up from about 360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 462 beds, and it ran at 94 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 Leake County Sheriff's Office at leakecountyms.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff), phone (601) 267-7361, 316 C.O. Brooks Street Carthage MS 39051, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Mississippi Department of Corrections lists its inmates at mdoc.ms.gov/inmate_search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Leake County
Whether someone was arrested in Leake County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Leake 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 leakecountyms.org/district-attorney, phone 601-656-1991).
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 Leake 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 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 Leake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (601) 267-7361.
- An arrest in Carthage: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 601-656-1991, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Leake 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 Leake County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Leake County: Carthage. Walnut Grove and Lena 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 Leake County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Leake County each year?
Carthage reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,293 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Leake County?
Ask the Leake County Sheriff's Office at (601) 267-7361; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at leakecountyms.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Leake County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Leake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Leake County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Leake 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 Leake County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Leake 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 Leake 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.