SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Collegedale, Tennessee, in Hamilton County, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Collegedale is held at the county jail, run by the Hamilton 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: Collegedale public records, Hamilton County inmate search, Collegedale arrest records, Collegedale warrants, Collegedale criminal records, Collegedale court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.

The Hamilton County Jail by the Numbers

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.

Hamilton County has about 386,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 14 people for every 10,000 residents.

Who Books People Into the Hamilton County Jail

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Collegedale (filed by the FBI as Collegedale Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Collegedale.

The FBI's agency list also places two other agencies and two campus police departments in Hamilton County (the arrest records guide names each one).

The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office's 4,677 for 2025, Chattanooga's 3,591 for 2025 and East Ridge's 761 for 2025.

Together, the seven agencies in Hamilton County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,513 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 Collegedale arrest records.

From the Jail to State Prison

The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Hamilton County serves the sentence in a facility of the Tennessee Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find an inmate in Collegedale?

Ask the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 423-209-7000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hcsheriff.gov/Corrections/Inmates-app.

How many people are in the Hamilton County jail?

About 540 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 542 beds.

What is the phone number for the Hamilton County jail?

423-209-7000, the number on the page of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.

Where do people sentenced to prison in Hamilton 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 Collegedale 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.