Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Canton, Georgia, in Cherokee County, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Georgia the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Georgia Crime Information Center is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Canton is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Canton public records, Cherokee County criminal records, Canton arrest records, Canton warrants, Canton inmate search, Canton court records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Cherokee County Superior Court
A criminal case from Canton is filed in the Cherokee County Superior Court or the State Court and Magistrate Court, which take misdemeanors and traffic cases in the State Court where the county has one, otherwise in the Probate Court; small claims and warrants in the Magistrate Court, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Cherokee County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at cherokeecountyga.gov/clerk-of-courts (page title: Clerk of Courts | Cherokee County, Georgia), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Georgia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Georgia Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at gbi.georgia.gov/services/obtaining-criminal-history-record-informat....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Canton
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Canton (filed by the FBI as Canton Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Canton: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Cherokee County: Cherokee County Board of Education and the Cherokee County Marshal (other agency); the State Patrol at Canton (state police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the six agencies in Cherokee County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,767 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Canton arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Canton in 2025
The agency that reports for Canton had 47 violent and 249 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The District Attorney for Cherokee County
Charges in Cherokee County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Cherokee County Superior Court or the State Court and Magistrate Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at cherokeecountyga.gov/district-attorneys-office (page title: Office of the District Attorney | Cherokee County, Georgia), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Canton
Registered sex offenders living in Canton are listed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry, run by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at state.sor.gbi.ga.gov/sort_public. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff keeps the local list.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Cherokee County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Georgia Open Records Act a county office must answer a request within 3 business days, and it may charge for search, retrieval and copying after the first quarter hour. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cherokeecountyga.gov/solicitor-general/OPEN-RECORDS-REQUEST (page title: Office of the Solicitor-General | Cherokee County, Georgia).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Canton?
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.
Can I search Canton criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at cherokeecountyga.gov/clerk-of-courts (page title: Clerk of Courts | Cherokee County, Georgia).
How do I get my own Georgia criminal history?
A fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Who prosecutes crimes in Canton?
The District Attorney, which files its cases in the Cherokee County Superior Court or the State Court and Magistrate Court.
Is this the official Canton 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.