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 October 1, 2026.
Savannah, Georgia, in Chatham County, has about 149,000 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 Savannah is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Savannah public records, Chatham County criminal records, Savannah arrest records, Savannah warrants, Savannah inmate search, Savannah court records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Chatham County Superior Court
In Georgia the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Savannah are heard by the Chatham County Superior Court, which hears felonies, divorces, land title cases and civil cases without a dollar limit; the State Court and Magistrate Court 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 file of each case is kept by the Clerk of Superior Court.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.chathamcountyga.gov (page title: Chatham County, GA | Court System), phone 912-652-6700, 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 Savannah
The Chatham County Sheriff's Office, the Chatham County Police Department and the agency that reports for Savannah (filed by the FBI as Savannah Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Savannah: 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 two campus police departments, one state police unit, one state agency and three other agencies in Chatham County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the five agencies in Chatham County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,323 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 Savannah arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Savannah in 2025
The agency that reports for Savannah had 208 violent and 146 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 Sex Offender Registry for Savannah
Registered sex offenders living in Savannah 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 Chatham 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 chathamcountyga.justfoia.com/publicportal/home/newrequest (page title: Chatham County, GA Public Portal | JustFOIA).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Savannah criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.chathamcountyga.gov (page title: Chatham County, GA | Court System).
How do I get my own Georgia criminal history?
A fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
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.