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.
Cook County, Georgia, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cook 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 Cook 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: Cook County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cook County
The Cook County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cook County. It reported 549 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:
- Adel, 5,752 residents.
- Sparks, 2,068 residents.
- Lenox, 746 residents: 1,152 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 Cook 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.
- Lenox: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Cook County Sheriff's Office: 549 for 2025, 697 for 2024, 733 for 2023, 578 for 2022, 539 for 2021 and 1,160 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,701 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,701 in 2025 against 1,849 in 2024, down 8 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 873 arrests, against 1,239 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cook County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cook 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 100 people on an average day, up from about 93 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 108 beds, and it is running at 93 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 Cook County Sheriff's Office at cookcountyga.us/departments-and-offices/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Cook County Georgia), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
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 Cook County
An arrest in Cook County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Cook 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=37, phone (229) 896-7717); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cookcountyga.us/departments-and-offices/district-attorney, phone (229) 896-3102).
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 Cook 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 Cook County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Adel, Sparks or Lenox: 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, (229) 896-3102, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Cook County Superior Court, through the court records page at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=37, phone (229) 896-7717.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
The other Cook County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Cook County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Cook County: Adel, Sparks and Lenox. Cecil 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 Cook County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Cook County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Adel (5,752)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cook County each year?
Lenox reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,701 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cook County?
Ask the Cook County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cookcountyga.us.
Where are people arrested in Cook County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cook County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cook 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 Cook County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cook 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 Cook 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.