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 4, 2026.
Portland, Tennessee, in Sumner County, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Portland comes from a judge of the Sumner 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: Portland public records, Sumner County warrants, Portland arrest records, Portland inmate search, Portland criminal records, Portland court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Portland
In Tennessee an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Portland that means the Sumner 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 Sumner County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at sumnercountytn.gov/departments/courts (page title: Courts | Sumner County, TN), phone 615-452-4367, 155 East Main Street Gallatin, TN 37066, 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 Portland
The Sumner County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Portland (filed by the FBI as Portland Police Department) serve warrants in and around Portland.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Sumner County: Drug Task Force's 18th Judicial District (other agency); Volunteer State Community College (campus police); each serves warrants on its own ground.
The Goodlettsville Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Sumner County, so its arrests are not broken out for Sumner County here.
The agency that serves a warrant from Sumner County is whichever one finds the person; a Tennessee warrant is valid across Tennessee.
Together, the seven agencies in Sumner County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,310 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Portland arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Portland 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 Sumner County Sheriff's Office, held about 760 people on an average day in 2024 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a jail page SearchSystems verified at sumnersherifftn.gov/inmates. The Portland inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Portland on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Portland
The place to check for a warrant from Portland is the court file of the case, through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master at 615-452-4367, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
Not one of the Sumner County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's and the records request page) 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 Portland
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Portland that means appearing before the Sumner 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 Sumner County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Portland?
Not from the Sumner 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 at 615-452-4367.
Who serves warrants in Portland?
The agency that reports for Portland inside the city and the Sumner 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 Portland held?
At the county jail, run by the Sumner County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Portland 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 at 615-452-4367.
Is this the official Portland 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.