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 4, 2026.
Washington County, Mississippi, has about 41,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washington County Sheriff's Office and three city 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 Washington 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: Washington County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washington County
The Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washington County. It reported 476 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Greenville, 27,015 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Leland, 3,627 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hollandale, 2,123 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washington 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.
- Greenville: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Leland: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Washington County Sheriff's Office: 476 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,304 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,304 in 2025 against 2,304 in 2024.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,332 arrests, against 1,728 in the same months of 2025.
Hollandale reported only part of 2025 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washington County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Washington 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 350 people, up from about 310 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 550 beds, and it ran at 63 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office at news.washeriff.net/divisions/bookings (page title: Bookings | WCSO), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 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 Washington County
Whether someone was arrested in Washington County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Washington County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Washington 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/mec/mec.php, phone 601-968-6628); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at washingtoncounty.ms/county-prosecutor, phone 662.335.1966).
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 Washington 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Greenville, Leland or Hollandale: 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, 662.335.1966, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washington County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.ms.gov/mec/mec.php, phone 601-968-6628.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
Cities in Washington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Washington County: Greenville, Leland and Hollandale. Metcalfe and Arcola 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 Washington County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washington County each year?
Greenville reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,304 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Washington County?
Look on the custody page of the Washington County Sheriff's Office at news.washeriff.net/divisions/bookings. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Washington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Washington County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Washington 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 Washington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washington 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 Washington 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.