Find Miami Beach Booking Records
Recent bookings for Miami Beach go through the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. Miami Beach is a barrier island city in Miami-Dade County with about 83,251 residents, though the population swells with visitors year-round. The Miami Beach Police Department handles law enforcement in the city, but all arrested persons are booked into county jail facilities. Miami-Dade operates a centralized intake system, so booking records from Miami Beach arrests are stored in the same county database as arrests from every other city in the county. You can search these records online for free.
Miami Beach Quick Facts
Miami Beach Arrest Records Search
The Miami Beach Police Department is one of the busiest agencies in South Florida. Officers handle patrol, traffic, special events, and investigations across the island. When someone is arrested in Miami Beach, the person is transported to a Miami-Dade County jail facility for booking. The intake process logs the charges, takes fingerprints and a photo, and creates a public booking record. This data falls under Chapter 119 of Florida Statutes and is accessible to anyone.
The Miami Beach Police Department website provides information about the agency and its services to the community.
Visit this site for department contacts, community programs, and records request information.
To search for booking records from Miami Beach arrests, use the Miami-Dade County inmate search. Enter a name and the system pulls up matching records from across the county. Results show booking dates, charges, bond amounts, and current custody status. The database covers active inmates and recently released individuals. No fee is charged for online searches.
How Bookings Work in Miami Beach
Arrests in Miami Beach follow Chapter 901 of Florida Statutes. Officers need probable cause or a warrant. After the arrest, the person goes to county intake. Booking staff record the person's name, date of birth, physical features, charges, arresting officer, and the time of booking. Each record gets a unique booking number that you can use for future lookups.
Miami Beach does not have its own jail. The city relied on county facilities for detention since well before the current corrections system was built. All arrests, whether they happen on Ocean Drive, in a residential neighborhood, or at a special event, go through the same county booking process. This means a Miami Beach arrest looks the same in the system as one from Coral Gables or Hialeah. The arresting agency is listed on the record, so you can tell which department made the arrest even though the booking takes place at the county level.
The volume of arrests in Miami Beach tends to spike during major events and holiday weekends. Spring break, Art Basel, and New Year's Eve bring large crowds to the island. The police department ramps up staffing during these periods, and the county intake system handles the extra volume. Booking records from these busy times are public just like any other arrest record.
Note: Miami Beach Police operate a temporary holding facility for processing, but actual jail booking happens at the county level.
Bond and Bail in Miami Beach
After someone is booked for a Miami Beach arrest, the bond process follows Chapter 903 of Florida Statutes. The 11th Judicial Circuit covers Miami-Dade County and uses a bond schedule. Minor charges may have a preset bond. Serious offenses need a judge to set bond at first appearance within 24 hours of arrest.
Cash bond is accepted at the jail. Bail bondsmen are widely available in the Miami-Dade area and charge about 10% of the total bond amount. That 10% is a fee and does not come back to you. Some defendants qualify for release on their own recognizance, which means they sign a promise to appear without posting money. The inmate search tool shows bond amounts for each charge on a booking record. If you pay the full cash bond and the person makes every court date, the money gets returned at the end of the case minus any court fees.
People arrested in Miami Beach on misdemeanor charges can sometimes post bond within a few hours. Felonies take longer because a judge has to review the case. Out-of-town visitors arrested in Miami Beach face the same process, but coordinating bond from out of state can add time and complexity.
Public Records in Miami Beach
Florida's open records law is strong. Under Chapter 119, booking records are public from the moment they are created. You do not need to live in Miami Beach. You do not need to explain why you want the records. Miami-Dade Corrections must respond to requests in a reasonable time. Since most booking data is already online, formal requests are usually only needed for older or less common records.
Arrest reports from the Miami Beach Police Department are separate from county booking records. The police report details the events leading up to the arrest, while the booking record covers the jail intake process. Both are public under Florida law. Contact the Miami Beach Police records unit for incident reports and arrest affidavits from events within city limits. Fees may apply for copies. Certified copies cost more than plain ones. Juvenile records and sealed or expunged cases are not available to the public.
Statewide Record Searches
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains a statewide arrest database. Their criminal history record check costs $25 and searches all 67 Florida counties. This is useful if you are not sure which county an arrest occurred in or if you need a broader search beyond Miami Beach.
The Florida Department of Corrections has an inmate search for people in state prison. This only covers convicted offenders who have been sentenced and transferred out of the county jail. For people currently held on a Miami Beach booking, use the county inmate search. FDC is the right resource when you need to find someone who has already been convicted and moved to a state facility.
Note: FDLE records sometimes lag a few days behind local jail data because of reporting delays between agencies across the state.
Miami Beach Police Department
The Miami Beach Police Department is a large agency with hundreds of sworn officers. The department covers the entire barrier island and handles a wide range of calls from property crimes to major incidents. All arrests by Miami Beach officers go into the Miami-Dade County corrections system for booking.
| Agency | Miami Beach Police Department |
|---|---|
| County Corrections | Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation |
| Jail Phone | 786.263.7000 |
| Inmate Search | Miami-Dade Inmate Search |
For arrest reports, contact the Miami Beach Police records section directly. They can provide copies of incident reports and supplemental documents from arrests that took place within Miami Beach city limits. The county handles booking records separately through the corrections department.
Nearby Miami-Dade Cities
Several other cities in Miami-Dade County have their own booking record pages. All of these cities use the same county corrections system, so the inmate search tool covers arrests from the entire county.
Miami-Dade County Recent Bookings
Miami Beach is part of Miami-Dade County. All booking records go through Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs one of the largest jail systems in the state. For a complete look at the county jail, court information, and more resources, visit the Miami-Dade County page.