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.
Heard County, Georgia, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Heard 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 Heard 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: Heard County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Heard County
The Heard County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Heard County. It reported 134 arrests for 2025.
One city in Heard County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Franklin, 980 residents: 57 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 Heard 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.
- Heard County Sheriff's Office: 134 for 2025, 253 for 2024, 279 for 2023, 233 for 2022, 270 for 2021 and 228 for 2020.
- Franklin: 57 for 2025, 49 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 64 for 2022, 101 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 191 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 191 in 2025 against 302 in 2024, down 37 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Heard County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Heard 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 43 people on an average day, up from about 43 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 60 beds, and it is running at 72 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 Heard County Sheriff's Office at heardcosheriff.com/Jail_Division/jailDesc.html (page title: HCSO | Jail Division), phone (706) 675-3329, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Heard County
An arrest in Heard County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Heard County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at heardcountyga.com/superior.html, phone (706) 675-3821); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at heardcountyga.com/dAttorney.html, phone (706) 675-3821).
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 Heard 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 Heard County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (706) 675-3329.
- An arrest in Franklin: 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) 675-3821, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Heard County Superior Court, through the court records page at heardcountyga.com/superior.html, phone (706) 675-3821.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Heard County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Heard County: Franklin. Ephesus and Centralhatchee have 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 Heard County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Heard County each year?
The Heard County Sheriff's Office reported 134 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 191 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Heard County?
Ask the Heard County Sheriff's Office at (706) 675-3329; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at heardcosheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Heard County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Heard County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Heard 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 Heard County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Heard 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 Heard 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.