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 October 9, 2026.
Burke County, Georgia, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Burke County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Burke 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: Burke County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Burke County
The Burke County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Burke County. It reported 114 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Waynesboro, 5,555 residents: 76 arrests reported for 2023.
- Sardis, 1,007 residents.
- Midville, 381 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
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.
The Blythe Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Burke County, so its arrests are not broken out for Burke County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Burke 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.
- Burke County Sheriff's Office: 114 for 2025, 273 for 2024, 219 for 2023, 183 for 2022, 157 for 2021 and 163 for 2020.
- Midville: 0 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Waynesboro: 76 for 2023, 33 for 2022, 35 for 2021, 53 for 2020 and 150 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 114 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 114 in 2025 against 274 in 2024, down 58 percent.
Sardis reported only part of 2025 (6 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Burke County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Burke 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 100 people on an average day, down from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 135 beds, and it is running at 74 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 Burke County Sheriff's Office at burkecountysheriff.com/inmate-inquiry.cfm (page title: Inmate Inquiry | Burke County Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Burke County
Whether someone was arrested in Burke County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Burke County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at burkecounty-ga.gov/government/courts/state_court.php, phone (706) 554-3460); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pacga.org/find-your-prosecutor/county/burke, phone 706-821-1135).
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 Burke 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 Burke County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Waynesboro, Sardis or Midville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 706-821-1135, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Burke County Superior Court, through the court records page at burkecounty-ga.gov, phone (706) 554-3460.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at burkecounty-ga.gov (page title: Welcome to Burke County, Georgia).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
The other Burke County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Burke County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the six cities in Burke County: Waynesboro, Sardis and Midville. Keysville, Girard and Vidette have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Burke County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Burke County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Waynesboro (5,555)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Burke County each year?
The Burke County Sheriff's Office reported 114 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 114 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Burke County?
Ask the Burke County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at burkecountysheriff.com/inmate-inquiry.cfm.
Where are people arrested in Burke County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Burke County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Burke 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 Burke County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Burke 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 burkecounty-ga.gov.
Is this the official Burke 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.