Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 25, 2026.
Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Hamilton County, has about 191,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 General files charges, a case in the Hamilton County Circuit and Chancery Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Chattanooga public records, Hamilton County arrest records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Chattanooga
The FBI lists Chattanooga with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Chattanooga Police Department. It reported 3,591 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 4,677 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Hamilton County: Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport and the Chattanooga Housing Authority (other); Chattanooga State Community College and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (campus police).
How Many Arrests Chattanooga Reports
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.
- Chattanooga: 3,591 for 2025, 3,990 for 2024, 4,769 for 2023, 4,322 for 2022, 6,631 for 2021 and 7,459 for 2020.
Chattanooga's 3,591 arrests in 2025 were down 10 percent from 3,990 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Chattanooga reported 2,762 arrests, against 2,342 in the same months of 2025.
Across Hamilton County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,513 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chattanooga Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chattanooga 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.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 540 people, down from about 2,470 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 542 beds, and it ran at 99 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 Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at hcsheriff.gov/Corrections/Inmates-app (page title: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Website), phone 423-209-7000, 600 Market St Chattanooga, TN 37402, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Tennessee Department of Correction lists its inmates at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Chattanooga
For Chattanooga the place to look is the case index of the Hamilton County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hamiltontn.gov/CircuitCourt_TNCaseFinder.aspx, phone 423-209-6700).
Tennessee is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: TORIS lets anyone run a name-based criminal history search online, for $29 a search, through the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. 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 Chattanooga
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Tennessee Public Records Act the agency must answer within 7 business days, and it may charge copying, and labor after the first hour.
- An arrest by the Chattanooga police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at chattanooga.gov/request-and-report/request/police-report (page title: Police Reports), phone (423) 698-2525, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 423-209-7000.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hamilton County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at hamiltontn.gov/CircuitCourt_TNCaseFinder.aspx, phone 423-209-6700.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at elect.hamiltontn.gov/ORR.aspx (page title: Hamilton TN | Open Records Request Form).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Hamilton County guide covers every agency in the county: Hamilton County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chattanooga each year?
Chattanooga reported 3,591 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chattanooga?
Ask the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 423-209-7000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hcsheriff.gov/Corrections/Inmates-app.
Where are people arrested in Chattanooga booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chattanooga?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation: TORIS lets anyone run a name-based criminal history search online, for $29. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Tennessee Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Chattanooga?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chattanooga police for its own arrests, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Tennessee Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at elect.hamiltontn.gov/ORR.aspx.
Is this the official Chattanooga website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.