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.
DeKalb County, Tennessee, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in DeKalb County is held at the county jail, run by the DeKalb 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: DeKalb County public records, DeKalb County arrest records, DeKalb County warrants, DeKalb County criminal records, DeKalb County court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in DeKalb County
The county jail, run by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in DeKalb County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbsheriff.com (page title: DeKalb County Jail, IN Inmate Roster, Booking, Arrests, Warrants), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 DeKalb County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 44 people, down from about 85 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 102 beds, and it ran at 44 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
DeKalb County has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 20 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the DeKalb County Jail
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Smithville and Alexandria make the arrests that end in a booking in DeKalb County.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office's 704 for 2025, Smithville's 160 for 2025 and Alexandria's 44 for 2023.
Together, the two agencies in DeKalb County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 864 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 DeKalb County 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 DeKalb County?
Look on the custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbsheriff.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the DeKalb County jail?
About 44 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 102 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.