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 9, 2026.
Polk County, Georgia, has about 45,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Polk County Sheriff's Office, one other county agency and three 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 Polk 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: Polk County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Polk County
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Polk County. It reported 21 arrests for 2025.
The Polk County Police Department also reports arrests to the FBI as another county agency of Polk County.
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:
- Cedartown, 10,313 residents: 491 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rockmart, 5,284 residents: 121 arrests reported for 2025.
- Aragon, 1,503 residents: 10 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 Braswell Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Polk County, so its arrests are not broken out for Polk County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Polk 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.
- Cedartown: 491 for 2025, 424 for 2024, 577 for 2023, 425 for 2022, 389 for 2021 and 244 for 2020.
- Polk County Police Department: 412 for 2025, 328 for 2024 and 365 for 2023.
- Rockmart: 121 for 2025, 161 for 2024, 248 for 2023, 290 for 2022, 301 for 2021 and 239 for 2020.
- Polk County Sheriff's Office: 21 for 2025, 26 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 29 for 2022, 22 for 2021 and 44 for 2020.
- Aragon: 10 for 2025.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,055 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,045 in 2025 against 939 in 2024, up 11 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Polk County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Polk 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 220 people on an average day, up from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 240 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office at polkga.org/public_safety/sheriffs_office/index.php (page title: Sheriff's Office), phone 770-749-2900, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Polk County
For Polk County the place to look is the case index of the Polk County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at pro.polkcountyclerk.net/PRO).
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 Polk 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 770-749-2900.
- An arrest in Cedartown, Rockmart or Aragon: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Polk County Superior Court, through the court records page at pro.polkcountyclerk.net/PRO.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at polkcountyga.nextrequest.com (page title: Welcome to Polk County Public Records!NextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
The other Polk County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Polk County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Polk County: Cedartown, Rockmart and Aragon.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Polk County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Polk County each year?
Cedartown reported 491 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,055 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Polk County?
Ask the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 770-749-2900; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at polkga.org.
Where are people arrested in Polk County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Polk 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 Polk County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Polk 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 polkcountyga.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Polk 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.