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.
Franklin County, Tennessee, has about 45,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and one campus agency. An arrest 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 Franklin County Circuit and Chancery Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Franklin County public records, Tennessee arrest records, Tennessee inmate search and Tennessee criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 1,484 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Franklin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Winchester, 10,251 residents: 343 arrests reported for 2025.
- Estill Springs, 2,698 residents: 69 arrests reported for 2025.
- Decherd, 2,479 residents: 165 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cowan, 1,816 residents: 51 arrests reported for 2023.
- Huntland, 890 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Tullahoma Police Department and the Monteagle Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Franklin County, so their arrests are not broken out for Franklin County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Franklin County: the University of the South (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin County
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.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 1,484 for 2025, 1,596 for 2024, 1,884 for 2023, 2,829 for 2022, 3,289 for 2021 and 3,163 for 2020.
- Winchester: 343 for 2025, 498 for 2024, 516 for 2023, 528 for 2022, 620 for 2021 and 546 for 2020.
- Decherd: 165 for 2025, 231 for 2024, 201 for 2021, 325 for 2020 and 306 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Estill Springs: 69 for 2025, 111 for 2024, 112 for 2023, 67 for 2022, 69 for 2021 and 90 for 2020.
- Cowan: 51 for 2023, 51 for 2022, 32 for 2021, 40 for 2020 and 25 for 2019.
- Huntland: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,061 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,061 in 2025 against 2,436 in 2024, down 15 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,163 arrests, against 1,331 in the same months of 2025.
Cowan and Huntland reported only part of 2025 (9 months and 7 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Franklin County 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 170 people, down from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 262 beds, and it ran at 66 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincountycircuitcourtclerk.org/franklin-county-jail-inmate-search (page title: Franklin County Jail Inmate Search | Franklin County Circuit Court Clerk), phone (931) 967-2923, 440 George Fraley Parkway, Room #157, Winchester TN 37398, Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was 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.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Tennessee Department of Correction lists its inmates at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Franklin County
An arrest in Franklin County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Franklin County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fcmcclerk.com/case/search); the District Attorney General, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tennesseeda.gov/district-21).
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 Franklin County
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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (931) 967-2923.
- An arrest in Winchester, Estill Springs, Decherd, Cowan or Huntland: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the University of the South: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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 Franklin County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at fcmcclerk.com/case/search.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at franklintn.gov (page title: Tennessee Public Records Act | City of Franklin, TN).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the five cities in Franklin County: Winchester, Estill Springs, Decherd, Cowan and Huntland.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Franklin County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office reported 1,484 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,061 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Look on the custody page of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincountycircuitcourtclerk.org, or call (931) 967-2923. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin County?
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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Tennessee Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at franklintn.gov.
Is this the official Franklin 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.