SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Fulton County, Georgia, has about 1.1 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, one other county agency, 14 city agencies and 18 campus, state or other agencies. 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 Fulton 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: Fulton County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Fulton County

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Fulton County. It reported 135 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.

The Fulton County Police Department also reports arrests to the FBI as another county agency of Fulton County.

The FBI lists 14 cities in Fulton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Atlanta, 520,070 residents: 12,596 arrests reported for 2025.
  • South Fulton, 112,003 residents: 1,953 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Sandy Springs, 105,505 residents: 1,709 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Roswell, 92,227 residents: 1,516 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Johns Creek, 81,167 residents: 613 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Alpharetta, 67,275 residents: 742 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Milton, 41,490 residents: 193 arrests reported for 2025.
  • East Point, 38,270 residents: 1,407 arrests reported for 2024.
  • Union City, 28,195 residents.
  • Fairburn, 17,267 residents: 295 arrests reported for 2025.
  • College Park, 13,953 residents: 1,354 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hapeville, 6,712 residents: 108 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 these agencies in Fulton County: Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College and five more (campus police); Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Investigations, Georgia World Congress and the State Board of Workers Compensation Fraud Investigation Division (state agency); the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Fulton County Marshal, Fulton County School System and one more (other); the State Patrol at Hapeville (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Fulton County

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.

  • Atlanta: 12,596 for 2025, 11,388 for 2024, 11,984 for 2023, 12,390 for 2022 and 11,029 for 2021.
  • South Fulton: 1,953 for 2025, 1,646 for 2024, 1,533 for 2023, 1,583 for 2022 and 1,382 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
  • Sandy Springs: 1,709 for 2025, 2,036 for 2024, 1,642 for 2023, 1,911 for 2022, 1,771 for 2021 and 2,447 for 2020.
  • Roswell: 1,516 for 2025, 1,592 for 2024, 1,748 for 2023, 1,363 for 2022, 1,100 for 2021 and 919 for 2020.
  • College Park: 1,354 for 2025, 1,271 for 2024, 1,107 for 2023, 998 for 2022, 1,236 for 2021 and 1,081 for 2020.
  • Alpharetta: 742 for 2025, 639 for 2024, 827 for 2023, 918 for 2022, 816 for 2021 and 553 for 2020.
  • Johns Creek: 613 for 2025, 786 for 2024, 811 for 2023, 675 for 2022, 438 for 2021 and 385 for 2020.
  • Fairburn: 295 for 2025, 256 for 2024, 230 for 2023, 317 for 2022, 199 for 2020 and 611 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Milton: 193 for 2025, 164 for 2024, 164 for 2023, 75 for 2022, 80 for 2021 and 90 for 2020.
  • Fulton County Police Department: 142 for 2025, 106 for 2024, 138 for 2023, 167 for 2022, 165 for 2021 and 291 for 2020.
  • Hapeville: 108 for 2025.
  • Palmetto: 28 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 10 for 2023, 14 for 2022, 21 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.

Together, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 21,249 arrests that year. The 11 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 21,141 in 2025 against 19,893 in 2024, up 6.3 percent.

Through July 2026, the ten agencies with every month so far on file reported 11,381 arrests, against 11,111 in the same months of 2025.

East Point reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Fulton County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fulton 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 1,900 people, down from about 3,090 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 2,312 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Fulton County Sheriff's Office at fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/s... (page title: Jail), phone (877) 994-8463, 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 Fulton County

An arrest in Fulton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Fulton County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fultonclerk.org/504/Find-a-Case); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fultoncountyga.gov/districtattorney).

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 Fulton 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 Fulton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (877) 994-8463.
  • An arrest in Atlanta, South Fulton, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta or another of the cities listed above: 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 Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology or Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Investigations: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Fulton County Superior Court, through the court records page at fultonclerk.org/504/Find-a-Case.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyga.gov (page title: Request For Public Records Form).
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.

Cities in Fulton County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 14 of the 15 cities in Fulton County: the twelve named above and Palmetto and Chattahoochee Hills. Mountain Park 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 Fulton County Superior Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Fulton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Fulton County each year?

Atlanta reported 12,596 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 12 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 21,249 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fulton County?

Ask the Fulton County Sheriff's Office at (877) 994-8463; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyga.gov.

Where are people arrested in Fulton County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Fulton 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 Fulton County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Fulton 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 fultoncountyga.gov.

Is this the official Fulton 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.