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.
Smith County, Mississippi, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Smith 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 Smith 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: Smith County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Smith County
The Smith County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Smith County. It reported 32 arrests for 2025.
One city in Smith County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Raleigh, 1,073 residents: 26 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 Smith 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.
- Smith County Sheriff's Office: 32 for 2025, 58 for 2024, 80 for 2023, 135 for 2022 and 40 for 2021.
- Raleigh: 26 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 58 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 32 in 2025 against 58 in 2024, down 45 percent.
Through May 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 42 arrests, against 20 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Smith County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Smith 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 2019 the jail held about 26 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 25 beds, and it ran at 104 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Smith County
For Smith County the place to look is the case index of the Smith 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 Smith 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 Smith County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Raleigh: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Smith 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 Smith County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Smith County: Raleigh. Taylorsville, Polkville, Mize and Sylvarena 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 Smith County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Smith County each year?
The Smith County Sheriff's Office reported 32 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 58 between them.
Where are people arrested in Smith County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Smith County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Smith County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Smith 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 Smith County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Smith 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 Smith 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.