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 23, 2026.
Albemarle County, Virginia, has about 117,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Albemarle County Police Department and two campus, state or other 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 Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Albemarle 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: Albemarle County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Albemarle County
The Albemarle County Police Department is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Albemarle County. It reported 1,893 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Albemarle County: the Albemarle County State Police (state police); the University of Virginia (campus police).
How Many Arrests The Albemarle County Police Department Reports
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.
- Albemarle County Police Department: 1,893 for 2025, 1,681 for 2024, 1,598 for 2023, 1,714 for 2022, 1,575 for 2021 and 1,462 for 2020.
The Albemarle County Police Department's 1,893 arrests in 2025 were up 13 percent from 1,681 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Albemarle County Police Department reported 1,013 arrests, against 1,081 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Albemarle County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Albemarle 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 2025 the jail held about 300 people, up from about 280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 212 beds, and it ran at 83 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 Albemarle County Police Department at albemarleso.org (page title: Albemarle County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Virginia Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Albemarle County
An arrest in Albemarle County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Albemarle Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.state.va.us/courts/gd/albemarle/home, phone (434) 972-4004); the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at albemarle.org/government/commonwealth-s-attorney, phone 434-972-4072).
Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
Virginia does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Virginia State Police 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 Albemarle 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 Virginia Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 working days, and it may charge the actual cost of searching and copying.
- An arrest by the Albemarle County Police Department: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by the Albemarle County State Police or the University of Virginia: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, 434-972-4072, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Albemarle Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.state.va.us/courts/gd/albemarle/home, phone (434) 972-4004.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Cities in Albemarle County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Albemarle County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Albemarle Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Albemarle County each year?
The Albemarle County Police Department reported 1,893 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Albemarle County?
Ask the Albemarle County Police Department; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at albemarleso.org.
Where are people arrested in Albemarle County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Albemarle County Police Department; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Albemarle County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Albemarle Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Virginia State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Albemarle County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Albemarle County Police Department for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 working days.
Is this the official Albemarle 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.