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.
Smyrna, Tennessee, in Rutherford County, has about 60,000 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 Rutherford 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: Smyrna public records, Rutherford County arrest records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Smyrna
The FBI lists Smyrna with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Smyrna Police Department. It reported 2,082 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 Rutherford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 5,617 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Rutherford County: Middle Tennessee State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Smyrna 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.
- Smyrna: 2,082 for 2025, 1,832 for 2024, 1,909 for 2023, 2,039 for 2022, 2,271 for 2021 and 2,518 for 2020.
Smyrna's 2,082 arrests in 2025 were up 14 percent from 1,832 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Smyrna reported 1,527 arrests, against 1,327 in the same months of 2025.
Across Rutherford County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 11,798 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Smyrna Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Smyrna 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 2024 the jail held about 1,080 people, up from about 1,050 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 1,272 beds, and it ran at 85 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 Rutherford County Sheriff's Office at rcsotn.com (page title: Rutherford County, TN | Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Tennessee Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Smyrna
An arrest in Smyrna can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Rutherford County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at rutherfordcountytn.gov/court-services); the District Attorney General, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tennesseeda.gov/district-16).
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 Smyrna
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Smyrna police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at townofsmyrna.org/departments/police/department_organization/records... (page title: Welcome to Town of Smyrna, TN | Police), phone (615)355-5731, 400 Enon Springs Rd E Smyrna, TN 37167, Monday 8:00am - 4:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney General handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rutherford County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at rutherfordcountytn.gov/court-services.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at rutherfordcountytn.gov/openrecords (page title: Open Records | Rutherford County, TN).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Rutherford County guide covers every agency in the county: Rutherford County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Smyrna each year?
Smyrna reported 2,082 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Smyrna?
Ask the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at rcsotn.com.
Where are people arrested in Smyrna booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Smyrna?
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 Smyrna?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Smyrna police for its own arrests, the Rutherford 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 rutherfordcountytn.gov/openrecords.
Is this the official Smyrna 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.