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 on September 23, 2026.
Wilkes County, Georgia, has about 9,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office 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 Wilkes 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: Wilkes County public records, Georgia arrest records, Georgia inmate search and Georgia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wilkes County
The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wilkes County. It reported 234 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Wilkes County: the State Patrol at Washington (state police).
How Many Arrests The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Wilkes County Sheriff's Office: 234 for 2024, 256 for 2023, 231 for 2022, 222 for 2021, 128 for 2020 and 285 for 2019.
The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office's 234 arrests in 2024 were down 8.6 percent from 256 in 2023.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wilkes County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Wilkes 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 44 people on an average day, up from about 33 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 80 beds, and it is running at 55 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 Wilkes County Sheriff's Office at wilkessheriffga.com/jail (page title: Jail Information | Wilkes County Sheriff's Office), phone 706-678-2224, 225 Andrew Drive Washington, GA 30673, Friday and Saturday 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Wilkes County
An arrest in Wilkes County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Wilkes County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=157, phone (706) 678-2423); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pacga.org/find-your-prosecutor/county/wilkes, phone 706-595-7175).
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 Wilkes 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 Wilkes County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 706-678-2224.
- An arrest by the State Patrol at Washington: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 706-595-7175, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Wilkes County Superior Court, through the court records page at gsccca.org/clerks/clerk-results?cid=157, phone (706) 678-2423.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Cities in Wilkes County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Wilkes County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Wilkes County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wilkes County each year?
The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office reported 234 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wilkes County?
Ask the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office at 706-678-2224; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wilkessheriffga.com/jail.
Where are people arrested in Wilkes County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wilkes 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 Wilkes County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wilkes 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 Wilkes 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.