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.
Walton County, Florida, has about 90,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Walton 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 Walton 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: Walton County public records, Florida arrest records, Florida inmate search and Florida criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Walton County
The Walton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Walton County. It reported 2,002 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Walton County with a reporting agency of its own:
- DeFuniak Springs, 7,048 residents: 225 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 Walton County: the Walton County Florida Game Commission, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Walton County, the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Walton County, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Walton County and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Walton County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Walton 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.
- Walton County Sheriff's Office: 2,002 for 2025, 2,063 for 2023 and 2,052 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
- DeFuniak Springs: 225 for 2025 and 487 for 2024.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,227 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 225 in 2025 against 487 in 2024, down 54 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,664 arrests, against 1,532 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Walton County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Walton 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 320 people on an average day, up from about 250 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 600 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Walton County Sheriff's Office at nwscorrections.waltonso.org/NewWorld.InMateInquiry/WaltonCounty (page title: Inmate Search), 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Florida Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Walton County
An arrest in Walton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Walton County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Walton County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecords).
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 Walton County
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 Walton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in DeFuniak Springs: 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 Walton County Florida Game Commission, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Walton County or the Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General in Walton County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Walton County Circuit Court, through the court records page at waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecords.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecordsrequest (page title: Court Records Request | Walton County Clerk of Courts & Comptroller).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Walton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Walton County: DeFuniak Springs. Freeport and Paxton have 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 Walton County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Walton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Freeport (7,234)
- DeFuniak Springs (7,048)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Walton County each year?
The Walton County Sheriff's Office reported 2,002 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,227 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Walton County?
Look on the custody page of the Walton County Sheriff's Office at nwscorrections.waltonso.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Walton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Walton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Walton 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 Walton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Walton 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 waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecordsrequest.
Is this the official Walton 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.