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 1, 2026.
Elbert County, Georgia, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Elbert 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 Elbert 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: Elbert County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Elbert County
The Elbert County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Elbert County. It reported 140 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
One city in Elbert County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Elberton, 4,760 residents: 660 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 Elberton Reports
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.
- Elberton: 660 for 2025, 709 for 2024, 804 for 2023, 824 for 2022, 581 for 2021 and 618 for 2020.
- Elbert County Sheriff's Office: 140 for 2023, 234 for 2021 and 198 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
Elberton's 660 arrests in 2025 were down 6.9 percent from 709 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Elberton reported 382 arrests, against 367 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Elbert County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Elbert 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.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 61 people, down from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 86 beds, and it ran at 72 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office at elbertcosheriff.com/contact (page title: Contact | Elbert County Sheriff's Office), phone (706) 283-2420, 47 Forest Avenue Elberton, GA 30635, 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 Elbert County
An arrest in Elbert County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Elbert 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=52, phone (706) 283-2005); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pacga.org/find-your-prosecutor/county/elbert, phone 706-283-1716).
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 Elbert 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 Elbert County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (706) 283-2420.
- An arrest in Elberton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 706-283-1716, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Elbert County Superior Court, through the court records page at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=52, phone (706) 283-2005.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Elbert County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Elbert County: Elberton. Bowman 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 Elbert County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Elbert County each year?
Elberton reported 660 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Elbert County?
Ask the Elbert County Sheriff's Office at (706) 283-2420; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at elbertcosheriff.com/contact.
Where are people arrested in Elbert County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Elbert 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 Elbert County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Elbert 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 Elbert 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.