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.
Forsyth County, Georgia, has about 280,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one other 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 Forsyth 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: Forsyth County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Forsyth County
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Forsyth County. It reported 3,289 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Forsyth County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Cumming, 10,175 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Forsyth County: Forsyth County Fire Investigation Unit (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Forsyth 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.
- Forsyth County Sheriff's Office: 3,289 for 2025, 3,772 for 2024, 3,881 for 2023, 3,644 for 2022, 3,394 for 2021 and 3,224 for 2020.
- Cumming: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,441 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,441 in 2025 against 4,924 in 2024, down 9.8 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,888 arrests, against 2,353 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Forsyth County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Forsyth 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 310 people on an average day, down from about 330 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 608 beds, and it is running at 51 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Forsyth County
An arrest in Forsyth County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Forsyth County Superior Court, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at forsythco.com/government/departments/district-attorneys-office, phone (770) 781-2170).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at forsythcourts.com (page title: Forsyth County Courts), belongs to a lower court, not to the Forsyth County Superior Court.
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 Forsyth 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 Forsyth County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Cumming: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Forsyth County Fire Investigation Unit: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (770) 781-2170, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Forsyth County Superior Court it is kept by the Clerk of Superior Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at forsythcourts.com, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at forsythco.com/government/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Forsyth County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Forsyth County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Cumming, the one city in Forsyth County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Forsyth County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Forsyth County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Cumming (10,175)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Forsyth County each year?
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office reported 3,289 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,441 between them.
Where are people arrested in Forsyth County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Forsyth 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 Forsyth County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Forsyth 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 forsythco.com/government/open-records-request.
Is this the official Forsyth 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.