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 October 9, 2026.
Suwannee County, Florida, has about 48,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Suwannee 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 Suwannee 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, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Suwannee County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Suwannee County
The Suwannee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Suwannee County.
One city in Suwannee County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Live Oak, 7,200 residents.
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 Suwannee County: the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Suwannee County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Suwannee County, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Suwannee County, the Suwannee County Florida Game Commission and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Suwannee County (state police).
Arrest Counts on File for Suwannee County
The FBI publishes monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. For Suwannee County the counts on file are partial: Suwannee County Sheriff's Office and Live Oak have sent some months but no full year since 2019, so no annual total is given here.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Suwannee County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Suwannee 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 140 people on an average day, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 196 beds, and it ran at 85 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 Suwannee County Sheriff's Office at smartcop.suwanneesheriff.com/smartwebclient/jail.aspx (page title: JAIL View), phone (386) 362-2222, 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 Suwannee County
Whether someone was arrested in Suwannee County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao3.org/locations, phone (386) 758-0470).
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 Suwannee 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 Suwannee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (386) 362-2222.
- An arrest in Live Oak: 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 Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Suwannee County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Suwannee County or the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Suwannee County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney, (386) 758-0470, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at suwanneecountyfl.gov/public-records-requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Suwannee County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, police reports and property records.
Cities in Suwannee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Suwannee County: Live Oak. Branford 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 Suwannee County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Suwannee County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Live Oak (7,200)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Suwannee County?
Look on the custody page of the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office at smartcop.suwanneesheriff.com, or call (386) 362-2222. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Suwannee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Suwannee 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 Suwannee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Suwannee 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 suwanneecountyfl.gov/public-records-requests.
Is this the official Suwannee 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.