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.
Dawson County, Georgia, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office. 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 Dawson 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: Dawson County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dawson County
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dawson County. It reported 613 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Dawson County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Dawson County Sheriff's Office: 613 for 2025, 656 for 2024, 563 for 2023, 250 for 2022 and 696 for 2021.
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office's 613 arrests in 2025 were down 6.6 percent from 656 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Dawson County Sheriff's Office reported 307 arrests, against 376 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dawson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dawson 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 94 people on an average day, down from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 192 beds, and it is running at 49 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 Dawson County Sheriff's Office at dawsoncountyga.gov/407/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Dawson County, GA), phone 706-344-3535, Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Dawson County
Whether someone was arrested in Dawson County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Dawson County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dawsoncountyga.gov/164/Courts); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dawsoncountyga.gov/166/District-Attorney, phone 706-344-3620).
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 Dawson 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 Dawson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 706-344-3535.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 706-344-3620, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dawson County Superior Court, through the court records page at dawsoncountyga.gov/164/Courts.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dawsoncountyga.gov (page title: DAWSON COUNTY OPEN RECORDS REQUEST).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Dawson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Dawson County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Dawson County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dawson County each year?
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office reported 613 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dawson County?
Ask the Dawson County Sheriff's Office at 706-344-3535; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dawsoncountyga.gov/407/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Dawson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dawson 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 Dawson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dawson 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 dawsoncountyga.gov.
Is this the official Dawson 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.