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 4, 2026.
Hart County, Georgia, has about 28,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hart 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 Hart 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: Hart County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hart County
The Hart County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hart County. It reported 421 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Hart County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Hartwell, 4,701 residents: 163 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 Canon Police Department and the Royston Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Hart County, so their arrests are not broken out for Hart County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hart 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.
- Hart County Sheriff's Office: 421 for 2025, 323 for 2024, 298 for 2023, 325 for 2022, 276 for 2021 and 236 for 2020.
- Hartwell: 163 for 2025, 186 for 2024, 297 for 2023, 280 for 2022, 387 for 2021 and 404 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 584 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 584 in 2025 against 509 in 2024, up 15 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 360 arrests, against 386 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hart County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hart 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 170 people on an average day, up from about 46 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 230 beds, and it is running at 74 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 Hart County Sheriff's Office at hartcountyga.gov/sheriff.html (page title: Sheriff's Office | Hart County, Georgia), phone 706-376-3114, 890 Vickery St. Hartwell, GA 30643, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Hart County
An arrest in Hart County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Hart County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hartcountyga.gov/clerkcourt.html, phone (706) 376-7189); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hartcountyga.gov/districtatty.html, phone (706) 376-3128).
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 Hart 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 Hart County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 706-376-3114.
- An arrest in Hartwell: 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) 376-3128, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hart County Superior Court, through the court records page at hartcountyga.gov/clerkcourt.html, phone (706) 376-7189.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Hart County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Hart County: Hartwell. Bowersville 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 Hart County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hart County each year?
The Hart County Sheriff's Office reported 421 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 584 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hart County?
Ask the Hart County Sheriff's Office at 706-376-3114; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hartcountyga.gov/sheriff.html.
Where are people arrested in Hart County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hart County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hart 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 Hart County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hart 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 Hart 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.