Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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.
Atlanta, Georgia, in Fulton County, has about 520,000 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Fulton County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Atlanta public records, Fulton County arrest records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Atlanta
The FBI lists Atlanta with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Atlanta Police Department. It reported 12,596 arrests for 2025. 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 Fulton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 135 arrests for 2023.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Fulton County: Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College and five more (campus police); Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Investigations, Georgia World Congress and the State Board of Workers Compensation Fraud Investigation Division (state agency); the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Fulton County Marshal, Fulton County School System and one more (other); the State Patrol at Hapeville (state police).
How Many Arrests Atlanta Reports
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.
- Atlanta: 12,596 for 2025, 11,388 for 2024, 11,984 for 2023, 12,390 for 2022 and 11,029 for 2021.
Atlanta's 12,596 arrests in 2025 were up 11 percent from 11,388 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Atlanta reported 8,343 arrests, against 8,439 in the same months of 2025.
Across Fulton County, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 21,249 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Atlanta Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Atlanta 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.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 1,900 people, down from about 3,090 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 2,312 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 jail page of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office at fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/s... (page title: Jail), phone (877) 994-8463, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Georgia Department of Corrections lists its inmates at gdc.georgia.gov/offender-info/find-offender.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Atlanta
An arrest in Atlanta can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Fulton County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fultonclerk.org/504/Find-a-Case); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fultoncountyga.gov/districtattorney).
Georgia is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: Georgia Felon Search lets anyone check felony convictions online by name, through the Georgia Crime Information Center. 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 Atlanta
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Georgia Open Records Act the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge for search, retrieval and copying after the first quarter hour.
- An arrest by the Atlanta police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at atlantapd.org/i-want-to/or-request-complete (page title: OR Request Complete | Atlanta Police Department), phone 404-546-7461, 3493 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway Atlanta, GA 30331, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (877) 994-8463.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Fulton County Superior Court, through the court records page at fultonclerk.org/504/Find-a-Case.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyga.gov (page title: Request For Public Records Form).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
The Fulton County guide covers every agency in the county: Fulton County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Atlanta each year?
Atlanta reported 12,596 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Atlanta?
Ask the Fulton County Sheriff's Office at (877) 994-8463; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyga.gov.
Where are people arrested in Atlanta booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Atlanta?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Georgia Crime Information Center: Georgia Felon Search lets anyone check felony convictions online by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Georgia Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Atlanta?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Atlanta police for its own arrests, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Georgia Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyga.gov.
Is this the official Atlanta 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.