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.
Pierce County, Georgia, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pierce 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 Pierce 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: Pierce County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pierce County
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pierce County. It reported 400 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Pierce County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Blackshear, 3,658 residents: 117 arrests reported for 2025.
- Patterson, 777 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Waycross Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Pierce County, so its arrests are not broken out for Pierce County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Pierce 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.
- Pierce County Sheriff's Office: 400 for 2025, 537 for 2023, 403 for 2022, 234 for 2021 and 182 for 2020; 2024 is missing months.
- Blackshear: 117 for 2025, 133 for 2024, 135 for 2023, 203 for 2022 and 194 for 2021.
- Patterson: 0 for 2023 and 0 for 2022.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 517 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 117 in 2025 against 133 in 2024, down 12 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 120 arrests, against 158 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pierce County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pierce 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 130 people on an average day, up from about 66 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 165 beds, and it is running at 79 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Pierce County
Whether someone was arrested in Pierce County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Pierce County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at piercecountyga.gov/superior-court, phone 912.449.2020); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pacga.org/find-your-prosecutor/county/pierce, phone 912-449-2049).
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 Pierce 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 Pierce County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Blackshear or Patterson: 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, 912-449-2049, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Pierce County Superior Court, through the court records page at piercecountyga.gov/superior-court, phone 912.449.2020.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at piercegaso.org/open-records-request (page title: Open Records Request | Office of The Sheriff).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Pierce County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Pierce County: Blackshear and Patterson. Offerman 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 Pierce County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pierce County each year?
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office reported 400 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 517 between them.
Where are people arrested in Pierce County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pierce 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 Pierce County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pierce 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 piercegaso.org/open-records-request.
Is this the official Pierce 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.