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 25, 2026.
Cleveland, Tennessee, in Bradley County, has about 50,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cleveland is held at the county jail, run by the Bradley County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Cleveland public records, Bradley County inmate search, Cleveland arrest records, Cleveland warrants, Cleveland criminal records, Cleveland court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Cleveland
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cleveland is held at the county jail, run by the Bradley County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office at bradleysheriff.com/booking-reports (page title: Booking Reports | BradleyCountySheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone booked recently. A person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
The Bradley County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 490 people, down from about 540 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 510 beds, and it ran at 96 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Bradley County has about 114,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 43 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Bradley County Jail
The Bradley County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Cleveland (filed by the FBI as Cleveland Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Cleveland.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bradley County: Drug Task Force's 10th Judicial District (other agency); Cleveland State Community College (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Bradley County Sheriff's Office's 3,091 for 2025, Cleveland's 2,372 for 2025 and Charleston's 15 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Bradley County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,478 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Cleveland arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Tennessee Department of Correction lists its inmates at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Cleveland?
Look on the custody page of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office at bradleysheriff.com/booking-reports. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Bradley County jail?
About 490 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 510 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Bradley County go?
To a facility of the Tennessee Department of Correction; its inmate locator is at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
Is this the official Cleveland 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.