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 2, 2026.
Dayton, Tennessee, in Rhea County, has about 7,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Dayton comes from a judge of the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts or the General Sessions Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Dayton public records, Rhea County warrants, Dayton arrest records, Dayton inmate search, Dayton criminal records, Dayton court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Dayton
In Tennessee an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Dayton that means the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which hear felonies in the Circuit or Criminal Court, civil cases in either court, and divorces in either; the General Sessions Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and preliminary hearings, issues its own warrants on the cases before it. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
When a defendant misses a court date the judge issues a bench warrant, and either kind of warrant lives in the court file of the case, kept by the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
For Rhea County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at tncourts.gov/node/9782384 (page title: Rhea County | Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Tennessee has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Serves Warrants in Dayton
The Rhea County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Dayton (filed by the FBI as Dayton Police Department) serve warrants in and around Dayton.
The agency that serves a warrant from Rhea County is whichever one finds the person; a Tennessee warrant is valid across Tennessee.
Together, the four agencies in Rhea County with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 1,210 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Dayton arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Dayton Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Rhea County Sheriff's Office, held about 270 people on an average day in 2024 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a jail page SearchSystems verified at rheacountytn.gov/contact-us-2, phone 423-775-7832. The Dayton inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Dayton on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Dayton
The place to check for a warrant from Dayton is the court file of the case, through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
Not one of the Rhea County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's and the court's) is a list of open warrants, so a check means asking the court or the prosecutor about a case by name.
Clearing a Warrant from Dayton
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Dayton that means appearing before the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts or the General Sessions Court, with the case put back on the calendar through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
A missed date in a case before the General Sessions Court is handled by that court, not by the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Dayton?
Not from the Rhea County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
Who serves warrants in Dayton?
The agency that reports for Dayton inside the city and the Rhea County Sheriff's Office outside it, or whichever agency finds the person; a Tennessee warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Dayton held?
At the county jail, run by the Rhea County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Dayton cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
Is this the official Dayton 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.