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.
Early County, Georgia, has about 10,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Early 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 Early 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: Early County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Early County
The Early County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Early County. It reported 58 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Early County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Blakely, 5,142 residents: 198 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 Arlington Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Early County, so its arrests are not broken out for Early County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Early County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Blakely: 198 for 2025, 172 for 2024, 213 for 2023, 205 for 2022, 214 for 2021 and 238 for 2020.
- Early County Sheriff's Office: 58 for 2024, 75 for 2022, 90 for 2021 and 112 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 230 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 172 in 2024 against 213 in 2023, down 19 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Early County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Early County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 38 people on an average day, up from about 32 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 77 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 Early County Sheriff's Office at earlycountysheriff.com/detention-.html (page title: EARLY COUNTY JAIL | EARLY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE), phone 229-723-3150, 18610 E. South Blvd. Blakely, GA 39823, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Early County
For Early County the place to look is the case index of the Early County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at georgiacourts.gov/eaccess-court-records).
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 Early 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 Early County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 229-723-3150.
- An arrest in Blakely: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Early County Superior Court, through the court records page at georgiacourts.gov/eaccess-court-records.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at earlycountysheriff.com/Open-Records.html (page title: Open Records Request | EARLY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Early County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Early County: Blakely. Damascus and Jakin 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 Early County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Early County each year?
Blakely reported 198 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Early County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 230 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Early County?
Ask the Early County Sheriff's Office at 229-723-3150; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at earlycountysheriff.com/detention-.html.
Where are people arrested in Early County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Early County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Early 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 Early County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Early 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 earlycountysheriff.com/Open-Records.html.
Is this the official Early 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.