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 2, 2026.
DeKalb County, Georgia, has about 770,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in DeKalb County is held at the county jail, run by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: DeKalb County public records, DeKalb County arrest records, DeKalb County warrants, DeKalb County criminal records, DeKalb County court records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in DeKalb County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in DeKalb County is held at the county jail, run by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbsheriff.com (page title: DeKalb County Jail, IN Inmate Roster, Booking, Arrests, Warrants), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The DeKalb County Jail by the Numbers
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 1,920 people on an average day, up from about 1,670 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 3,500 beds, and it is running at 55 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
DeKalb County has about 770,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 25 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the DeKalb County Jail
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, the DeKalb County Police Department and the agencies that report for Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Chamblee, Decatur, Clarkston, Doraville and four more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in DeKalb County.
The FBI's agency list also places three other agencies, three campus police departments and one state police unit in DeKalb County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The Atlanta Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including DeKalb County, so its arrests are not broken out for DeKalb County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the DeKalb County Police Department's 3,320 for 2025, Brookhaven's 2,462 for 2025 and Dunwoody's 1,343 for 2025.
Together, the 11 agencies in DeKalb County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,241 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in DeKalb County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in DeKalb County serves the sentence in a facility of the Georgia Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at gdc.georgia.gov/offender-info/find-offender.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in DeKalb County?
Look on the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbsheriff.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the DeKalb County jail?
About 1,920 on an average day so far in 2026, against a rated capacity of 3,500 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in DeKalb County go?
To a facility of the Georgia Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at gdc.georgia.gov/offender-info/find-offender.
Is this the official DeKalb 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.