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.
Newton County, Georgia, has about 124,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Newton County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and one state 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 Newton 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: Newton County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Newton County
The Newton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Newton County. It reported 919 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Covington, 15,302 residents: 739 arrests reported for 2025.
- Oxford, 2,310 residents: 14 arrests reported for 2025.
- Porterdale, 1,941 residents: 40 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 Social Circle Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Newton County, so its arrests are not broken out for Newton County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Newton County: the State Patrol at Conyers (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Newton 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.
- Newton County Sheriff's Office: 919 for 2025, 971 for 2024, 1,087 for 2023, 954 for 2022, 769 for 2021 and 591 for 2020.
- Covington: 739 for 2025, 684 for 2024, 726 for 2023, 472 for 2022 and 432 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- Porterdale: 40 for 2025 and 22 for 2024.
- Oxford: 14 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 14 for 2022, 1 for 2020 and 22 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,712 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,712 in 2025 against 1,685 in 2024, up 1.6 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 723 arrests, against 670 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Newton County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Newton 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 550 people on an average day, up from about 390 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 600 beds, and it is running at 92 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 Newton County Sheriff's Office at newtonsheriffga.org (page title: Newton County Sheriff's Office GA), phone (770) 883-0324, 4200 Salem Road, Covington, GA 30016, Tuesdays from July 21 through September 22, 6 to 9 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Newton County
For Newton County the place to look is the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at alcovycircuit.com/newton-county/district-attorney/contact-information, phone (770) 784-2070).
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 Newton County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Newton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (770) 883-0324.
- An arrest in Covington, Oxford or Porterdale: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Patrol at Conyers: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (770) 784-2070, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at newtoncountyga.gov (page title: Open Records Information | Newton County, GA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Newton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Newton County: Covington, Oxford and Porterdale. Newborn and Mansfield 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 Newton County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Newton County each year?
The Newton County Sheriff's Office reported 919 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,712 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Newton County?
Ask the Newton County Sheriff's Office at (770) 883-0324; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at newtonsheriffga.org.
Where are people arrested in Newton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Newton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Newton 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 Newton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Newton 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 newtoncountyga.gov.
Is this the official Newton 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.