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.
Chattooga County, Georgia, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Chattooga 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: Chattooga County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chattooga County
The Chattooga County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chattooga County. It reported 422 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Chattooga County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Summerville, 4,421 residents: 15 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chattooga 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.
- Chattooga County Sheriff's Office: 422 for 2025, 457 for 2024, 260 for 2023, 280 for 2022, 263 for 2021 and 289 for 2020.
- Summerville: 15 for 2025, 13 for 2024, 40 for 2023, 49 for 2022 and 33 for 2021.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 437 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 437 in 2025 against 470 in 2024, down 7 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chattooga County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chattooga County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 42 people on an average day, down from about 47 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 48 beds, and it is running at 88 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 Chattooga County Sheriff's Office at chattooga-ga-sheriff.org (page title: Sheriff's Office Chattooga County, GA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Chattooga County
Whether someone was arrested in Chattooga County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Chattooga 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=27, phone (706) 857-0706); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pacga.org/find-your-prosecutor/county/chattooga, phone 706-638-2121).
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 Chattooga County
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 Chattooga County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Summerville: 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, 706-638-2121, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chattooga County Superior Court, through the court records page at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=27, phone (706) 857-0706.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Chattooga County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Chattooga County: Summerville. Trion, Menlo and Lyerly 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 Chattooga County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chattooga County each year?
The Chattooga County Sheriff's Office reported 422 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 437 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chattooga County?
Ask the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at chattooga-ga-sheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Chattooga County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chattooga 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 Chattooga County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chattooga 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.
Is this the official Chattooga 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.