Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 30, 2026.
Berrien County, Georgia, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Berrien County Sheriff's Office and four city agencies. An arrest 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 Berrien County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Berrien County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Berrien County
The Berrien County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Berrien County. It reported 183 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Nashville, 4,950 residents: 219 arrests reported for 2024.
- Enigma, 1,112 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2023.
- Ray City, 1,045 residents.
- Alapaha, 493 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2023.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Berrien County
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.
- Berrien County Sheriff's Office: 183 for 2025, 195 for 2024, 206 for 2023, 222 for 2022, 229 for 2021 and 226 for 2020.
- Nashville: 219 for 2024, 181 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 87 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
- Enigma: 5 for 2023, 13 for 2022 and 5 for 2021.
- Alapaha: 2 for 2023, 4 for 2022 and 1 for 2021.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 394 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 394 in 2023 against 361 in 2022, up 9.1 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Berrien County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Berrien County 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 22 people, down from about 82 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 19 beds, and it ran at 113 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 Berrien County Sheriff's Office at berriencountysheriff.com/offender-test (page title: Inmate Listing | Berrien County Sheriff's Office), phone 229-686-7071, 500 County Farm Rd Nashville, GA 31639, Monday-Friday: 8:00AM-5:00PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 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 Berrien County
Whether someone was arrested in Berrien County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Berrien County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Berrien County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=10, phone (229) 686-5506); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pacga.org/find-your-prosecutor/county/berrien, phone 229-686-7015).
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 Berrien County
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 Berrien County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 229-686-7071.
- An arrest in Nashville, Enigma, Ray City or Alapaha: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 229-686-7015, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Berrien County Superior Court, through the court records page at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=10, phone (229) 686-5506.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at berriencountygeorgia.com (page title: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST FORM | Berrien County GA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Berrien County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Berrien County: Nashville, Enigma, Ray City and Alapaha.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Berrien County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Berrien County each year?
The Berrien County Sheriff's Office reported 183 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Berrien County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 394 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Berrien County?
Look on the custody page of the Berrien County Sheriff's Office at berriencountysheriff.com/offender-test, or call 229-686-7071. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Berrien County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Berrien County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Berrien County?
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 Berrien County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Berrien County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Georgia Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at berriencountygeorgia.com.
Is this the official Berrien County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.