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.
Marion County, Mississippi, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Marion 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 Marion 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: Marion County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Marion County
The Marion County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Marion County. It reported 558 arrests for 2025.
One city in Marion County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Columbia, 6,534 residents: 178 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 Marion 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.
- Marion County Sheriff's Office: 558 for 2025, 657 for 2024, 565 for 2023, 613 for 2022, 625 for 2021 and 423 for 2020.
- Columbia: 178 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 736 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 558 in 2025 against 657 in 2024, down 15 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 378 arrests, against 436 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Marion County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Marion County 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 490 people, up from about 400 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 628 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Marion County Sheriff's Office at marioncountyms.com/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Marion County, MS), phone 601-736-5051, 219 Broad Street Columbia, MS 39429, 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 Marion County
For Marion County the place to look is the case index of the Marion 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).
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 Marion 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 Marion County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 601-736-5051.
- An arrest in Columbia: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Marion 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 Marion County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Columbia, the one city in Marion County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Marion County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Marion County each year?
The Marion County Sheriff's Office reported 558 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 736 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Marion County?
Ask the Marion County Sheriff's Office at 601-736-5051; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at marioncountyms.com/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Marion County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Marion County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Marion County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Marion 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 Marion County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Marion 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 Marion 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.