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.
Macon County, Georgia, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Macon County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Macon 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: Macon County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Macon County
The Macon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Macon County. It reported 1,152 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Montezuma, 2,903 residents: 69 arrests reported for 2022.
- Marshallville, 983 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2020.
- Oglethorpe, 957 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2024.
- Ideal, 393 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Macon 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.
- Ideal: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Macon County Sheriff's Office: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Montezuma: 69 for 2022, 71 for 2021 and 77 for 2020.
- Marshallville: 2 for 2020.
- Oglethorpe: 0 for 2024, 2 for 2023, 2 for 2022, 16 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,304 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,304 in 2025 against 2,304 in 2024.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,332 arrests, against 1,728 in the same months of 2025.
Oglethorpe reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Macon County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Macon 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.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 7 people, down from about 26 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 51 beds, and it ran at 14 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office at maconcountyga.gov/sheriff.cfm (page title: Sheriff | Macon County, GA), phone 478-472-6447, 117 Crescent Street P.O. Box 345 Oglethorpe, GA 31068, 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 Macon County
For Macon County the place to look is the case index of the Macon County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at maconcountyga.gov/clerk-of-superior-court.cfm, phone 478-472-7661).
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 Macon 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 478-472-6447.
- An arrest in Montezuma, Marshallville, Oglethorpe or Ideal: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Macon County Superior Court, through the court records page at maconcountyga.gov/clerk-of-superior-court.cfm, phone 478-472-7661.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at maconcountyga.gov/open-records-request.cfm (page title: Open Records Request | Macon County, GA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Macon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Macon County: Montezuma, Marshallville, Oglethorpe and Ideal.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Macon County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Macon County each year?
Ideal reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,304 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Macon County?
Ask the Macon County Sheriff's Office at 478-472-6447; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at maconcountyga.gov/sheriff.cfm.
Where are people arrested in Macon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Macon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Macon 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 Macon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Macon 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 maconcountyga.gov/open-records-request.cfm.
Is this the official Macon 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.