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 2023. 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 26, 2026.
Swainsboro, Georgia, in Emanuel County, has about 7,600 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 Emanuel 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: Swainsboro public records, Emanuel County arrest records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Swainsboro
The FBI lists Swainsboro with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Swainsboro Police Department. It reported 112 arrests for 2023, 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 Emanuel County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 114 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Emanuel County: East Georgia State College (campus police); the State Patrol at Swainsboro (state police).
How Many Arrests Swainsboro 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.
- Swainsboro: 112 for 2023, 142 for 2022, 67 for 2021 and 61 for 2020.
Swainsboro's 112 arrests in 2023 were down 21 percent from 142 in 2022.
Across Emanuel County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,266 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Swainsboro Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Swainsboro 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.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 59 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 62 beds, and it ran at 95 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office at emanuelcosheriff.com/current-inmates (page title: Current Inmates | Emanuel County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Swainsboro
For Swainsboro the place to look is the custody page of the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail.
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 Swainsboro
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 Swainsboro police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofswainsboro.org/government/departments/police-department (page title: Police Department | City of Swainsboro), phone (478) 237-8967, 212 North Main Street Swainsboro, GA 30401, Monday-Friday, 8:30pm-5pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at emanuelco-ga.gov/476/Open-Records (page title: Open Records in Emanuel County | Emanuel County, GA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
The Emanuel County guide covers every agency in the county: Emanuel County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Swainsboro each year?
Swainsboro reported 112 arrests to the FBI for 2023, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Swainsboro?
Look on the custody page of the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office at emanuelcosheriff.com/current-inmates. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Swainsboro booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Swainsboro?
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 Swainsboro?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Swainsboro police for its own arrests, the Emanuel 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 emanuelco-ga.gov/476/Open-Records.
Is this the official Swainsboro 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.