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 on September 23, 2026.
Cobb County, Georgia, has about 788,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cobb County Sheriff's Office, one other county agency, six city agencies and three campus, state or other 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 Cobb 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: Cobb County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cobb County
The Cobb County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cobb County. It reported 250 arrests for 2025.
The Cobb County Police Department also reports arrests to the FBI as another county agency of Cobb County.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Marietta, 63,122 residents: 2,001 arrests reported for 2025.
- Smyrna, 57,177 residents: 414 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kennesaw, 37,740 residents: 1,041 arrests reported for 2025.
- Acworth, 22,624 residents: 316 arrests reported for 2025.
- Powder Springs, 19,632 residents: 77 arrests reported for 2025.
- Austell, 8,244 residents: 75 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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Cobb County: Kennesaw State University (campus police); Cobb County Board of Education (other); the State Patrol at Marietta (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cobb 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.
- Cobb County Police Department: 6,359 for 2025, 7,513 for 2024, 7,180 for 2023, 6,689 for 2022, 6,174 for 2021 and 5,437 for 2020.
- Marietta: 2,001 for 2025, 1,543 for 2024, 1,288 for 2023, 1,727 for 2022, 1,485 for 2021 and 1,819 for 2020.
- Kennesaw: 1,041 for 2025, 942 for 2024, 807 for 2023, 704 for 2022, 433 for 2021 and 597 for 2020.
- Smyrna: 414 for 2025, 306 for 2024, 476 for 2023, 528 for 2022, 799 for 2021 and 688 for 2020.
- Acworth: 316 for 2025, 429 for 2024, 165 for 2022, 227 for 2021 and 251 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
- Cobb County Sheriff's Office: 250 for 2025, 282 for 2024, 230 for 2022, 252 for 2021 and 233 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
- Powder Springs: 77 for 2025, 172 for 2024, 147 for 2023, 67 for 2022 and 100 for 2021.
- Austell: 75 for 2025 and 98 for 2024.
Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,533 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 10,533 in 2025 against 11,285 in 2024, down 6.7 percent.
Through April 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,473 arrests, against 3,424 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cobb County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cobb 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 2,140 people on an average day, down from about 2,170 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 3,067 beds, and it is running at 70 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 Cobb County Sheriff's Office at cobbsheriff.org/inmates/adult-detention-center/custodial-information (page title: Cobb County Sheriff's Office | Custodial Information:), phone (770) 528-8975, Monday through Friday, during the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Cobb County
An arrest in Cobb County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Cobb County Superior Court, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cobbcounty.gov/district-attorney, phone (770) 528-3080).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at cobbcounty.gov/magistrate-court/magistrate-court-judicial-records-s... (page title: Magistrate Court Judicial Records Search | Cobb County Georgia), phone (770) 528-8900, belongs to a lower court, not to the Cobb County Superior Court.
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 Cobb 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 Cobb County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (770) 528-8975.
- An arrest in Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs or Austell: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Kennesaw State University, Cobb County Board of Education or the State Patrol at Marietta: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (770) 528-3080, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Cobb County Superior Court it is kept by the Clerk of Superior Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at cobbcounty.gov, phone (770) 528-8900, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cobbcounty.gov (page title: Open Records Requests | Cobb County Georgia).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Cobb County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the seven cities in Cobb County: Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs and Austell. Mableton has 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 Cobb County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Cobb County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cobb County each year?
The Cobb County Police Department reported 6,359 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 10,533 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cobb County?
Ask the Cobb County Sheriff's Office at (770) 528-8975; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cobbsheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Cobb County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cobb County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cobb 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 Cobb County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cobb 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 cobbcounty.gov.
Is this the official Cobb 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.