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 2021. 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.
Savannah, Georgia, in Chatham County, has about 149,000 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: Savannah public records, Chatham County arrest records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Savannah
The FBI lists Savannah with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Savannah Police Department. It reported 6,303 arrests for 2021, its latest complete year. 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 Savannah Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Savannah: 6,303 for 2021.
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 Savannah Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Savannah 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 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 Savannah
For Savannah 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 Savannah
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 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 Savannah police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at savannahga.gov/559/Open-Records-Information (page title: Open Records Information | Savannah, GA), phone (912) 651-6415, 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 Savannah each year?
Savannah reported 6,303 arrests to the FBI for 2021, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Savannah?
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 Savannah 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 Savannah?
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 Savannah?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Savannah 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 Savannah 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.