Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Milton, Florida, in Santa Rosa County, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the State Attorney files charges, a case in the Santa Rosa County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, arrest counts, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Milton public records, Santa Rosa County arrest records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Milton
The FBI lists Milton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Milton Police Department. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,751 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Santa Rosa County: the Santa Rosa County Florida Game Commission, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Santa Rosa County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Santa Rosa County, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Santa Rosa County and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Santa Rosa County (state police).
Arrest Counts on File for Milton
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Milton the counts on file are partial: Milton has sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Across Santa Rosa County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 3,598 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Milton Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Milton 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 640 people on an average day, down from about 700 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 810 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office at santarosasheriff.org/jail-view (page title: Jail View | Jail Database | Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Florida Department of Corrections lists its inmates at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Milton
Whether someone was arrested in Milton, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Santa Rosa County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at flcourts.gov/Florida-Courts/Court-Locations/First-District/Santa-Rosa).
Florida is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24 a search, through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Milton
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 Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the agency must answer promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus a special service charge for large requests.
- An arrest by the Milton police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at miltonfl.org/m/faq?cat=17#question-71 (page title: FAQs | CivicPlus.CMS.FAQ), phone 850-983-5420, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Santa Rosa County Circuit Court, through the court records page at flcourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at santarosa.fl.gov (page title: Form Center, Submit a Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Santa Rosa County guide covers every agency in the county: Santa Rosa County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Milton?
Look on the custody page of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office at santarosasheriff.org/jail-view. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Milton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Milton?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Milton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Milton police for its own arrests, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the answer is due promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at santarosa.fl.gov.
Is this the official Milton website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.