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.
Port Wentworth, Georgia, in Chatham County, has about 15,000 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 Chatham 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: Port Wentworth public records, Chatham County arrest records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Port Wentworth
The FBI lists Port Wentworth with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Port Wentworth Police Department. It reported 264 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 Chatham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,152 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Chatham County: Savannah Technical College and Savannah State University (campus police); the State Patrol at Savannah (state police); Ports Authority Savannah (state agency); Chatham County Board of Education, Savannah Fire and Emergency Services Arson Unit and Savannah Airport (other).
How Many Arrests Port Wentworth 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.
- Port Wentworth: 264 for 2025, 276 for 2024, 324 for 2023, 438 for 2022, 367 for 2021 and 816 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Port Wentworth's 264 arrests in 2025 were down 4.3 percent from 276 in 2024.
Through May 2026, Port Wentworth reported 113 arrests, against 114 in the same months of 2025.
Across Chatham County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,323 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Port Wentworth Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Port Wentworth 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 1,310 people on an average day, down from about 1,860 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 2,433 beds, and it is running at 54 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.chathamcountyga.gov (page title: Chatham County Sheriff's Office), phone 912-651-3700, 1050 Carl Griffin Drive Savannah, GA 31405, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Georgia Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at gdc.georgia.gov/offender-info/find-offender.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Port Wentworth
For Port Wentworth the place to look is the case index of the Chatham County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.chathamcountyga.gov, phone 912-652-6700).
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 Port Wentworth
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 Port Wentworth police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at portwentworthga.gov/dept-police-infomap (page title: Police Department | City of Port Wentworth), phone 888-373-7888, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 912-651-3700.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chatham County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.chathamcountyga.gov, phone 912-652-6700.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chathamcountyga.justfoia.com (page title: Chatham County, GA Public Portal | JustFOIA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
The Chatham County guide covers every agency in the county: Chatham County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Port Wentworth each year?
Port Wentworth reported 264 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Port Wentworth?
Ask the Chatham County Sheriff's Office at 912-651-3700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.chathamcountyga.gov.
Where are people arrested in Port Wentworth booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Port Wentworth?
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 Port Wentworth?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Port Wentworth police for its own arrests, the Chatham 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 chathamcountyga.justfoia.com.
Is this the official Port Wentworth 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.