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 September 30, 2026.
Gilmer County, Georgia, has about 33,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Gilmer County Sheriff's Office and two city 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 Gilmer 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: Gilmer County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Gilmer County
The Gilmer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Gilmer County. It reported 515 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Gilmer County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ellijay, 1,923 residents: 108 arrests reported for 2025.
- East Ellijay, 1,625 residents: 66 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 Each Agency Reports in Gilmer 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.
- Ellijay: 108 for 2025, 157 for 2024, 105 for 2023, 56 for 2021, 57 for 2020 and 160 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- East Ellijay: 66 for 2025, 73 for 2024, 88 for 2023, 52 for 2022, 90 for 2021 and 92 for 2020.
- Gilmer County Sheriff's Office: 515 for 2024, 519 for 2023, 524 for 2022, 405 for 2021, 399 for 2020 and 679 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 174 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 174 in 2025 against 230 in 2024, down 24 percent.
Through May 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 79 arrests, against 93 in the same months of 2025.
Gilmer County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gilmer County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Gilmer 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 68 people on an average day, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 142 beds, and it is running at 48 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 Gilmer County Sheriff's Office at gilmersheriff.com (page title: Gilmer County Sheriff's Office | Georgia), phone 706-635-8911, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Gilmer County
For Gilmer County the place to look is the case index of the Gilmer County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at gilmercounty-ga.gov/clerk-superior-court, phone 706-635-4462).
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 Gilmer 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 Gilmer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 706-635-8911.
- An arrest in Ellijay or East Ellijay: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Gilmer County Superior Court, through the court records page at gilmercounty-ga.gov/clerk-superior-court, phone 706-635-4462.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at gilmercounty-ga.gov/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Gilmer County Georgia).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Gilmer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Gilmer County: Ellijay and East Ellijay.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Gilmer County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gilmer County each year?
Ellijay reported 108 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 174 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Gilmer County?
Ask the Gilmer County Sheriff's Office at 706-635-8911; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at gilmersheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Gilmer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Gilmer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gilmer 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 Gilmer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gilmer 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 gilmercounty-ga.gov/open-records-request.
Is this the official Gilmer 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.