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 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, has about 208,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies 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 Santa Rosa 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: Santa Rosa County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Santa Rosa County
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Santa Rosa County. It reported 2,751 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Santa Rosa County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Milton, 11,182 residents.
- Gulf Breeze, 6,955 residents: 413 arrests reported for 2024.
- Jay, 583 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2020.
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 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).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Santa Rosa County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office: 2,751 for 2025, 3,185 for 2024, 3,554 for 2023, 3,335 for 2022 and 3,327 for 2021.
- Gulf Breeze: 413 for 2024 and 387 for 2023.
- Jay: 3 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 3,598 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 3,598 in 2024 against 3,941 in 2023, down 8.7 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Santa Rosa County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Santa Rosa 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.
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 Santa Rosa County
Whether someone was arrested in Santa Rosa County, 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 Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Milton, Gulf Breeze or Jay: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Santa Rosa County Florida Game Commission, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Santa Rosa County or the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Santa Rosa County: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Santa Rosa County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Santa Rosa County: Milton, Gulf Breeze and Jay.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Santa Rosa County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Santa Rosa County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Milton (11,182)
- Gulf Breeze (6,955)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Santa Rosa County each year?
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office reported 2,751 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Santa Rosa County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 3,598 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Santa Rosa County?
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 Santa Rosa County 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 Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Santa Rosa 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 santarosa.fl.gov.
Is this the official Santa Rosa 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.