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.
Gulf County, Florida, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Gulf County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and six 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 State Attorney files charges, a case in the Gulf 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: Gulf County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Gulf County
The Gulf County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Gulf County. It reported 313 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists one city in Gulf County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Port St. Joe, 3,856 residents: 14 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Gulf County: the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Gulf County, the Gulf County Florida Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Gulf, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Gulf County and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Gulf County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Gulf 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.
- Gulf County Sheriff's Office: 313 for 2024.
- Port St. Joe: 14 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 55 for 2020 and 81 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 322 arrests that year.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gulf County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Gulf 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 28 people on an average day, down from about 52 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 80 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Gulf County Sheriff's Office at gulfsheriff.com/arrest-log.cfm (page title: Gulf County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Gulf County
For Gulf County the place to look is the case index of the Gulf County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at gulfclerk.com/record-search).
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 Gulf 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 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 Gulf County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Port St. Joe: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Gulf County, the Gulf County Florida Game Commission or the Highway Patrol in Gulf County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Gulf County Circuit Court, through the court records page at gulfclerk.com/record-search.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at gulfcountyfl.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public Records RequestNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Gulf County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Gulf County: Port St. Joe. Wewahitchka has 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 Gulf County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gulf County each year?
The Gulf County Sheriff's Office reported 313 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the two agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 322 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Gulf County?
Ask the Gulf County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at gulfsheriff.com/arrest-log.cfm.
Where are people arrested in Gulf County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Gulf County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gulf County?
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 Gulf County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gulf County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 gulfcountyfl.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Gulf 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.