SearchSystems Editorial

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 September 30, 2026.

About this guide

Hamilton County, Tennessee, has about 386,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, seven city agencies and four campus, state or other agencies. 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 Hamilton 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: Hamilton County public records, Tennessee arrest records, Tennessee inmate search and Tennessee criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Hamilton County

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hamilton County. It reported 4,677 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists seven cities in Hamilton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

  • Chattanooga, 191,496 residents: 3,591 arrests reported for 2025.
  • East Ridge, 21,970 residents: 761 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Soddy-Daisy, 13,430 residents: 496 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Red Bank, 12,073 residents: 471 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Collegedale, 11,510 residents: 504 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Signal Mountain, 8,877 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lookout Mountain, 2,038 residents: 17 arrests reported for 2023.

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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Hamilton County: Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport and the Chattanooga Housing Authority (other); Chattanooga State Community College and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (campus police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hamilton County

The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.

  • Hamilton County Sheriff's Office: 4,677 for 2025, 4,939 for 2024, 4,079 for 2023, 3,523 for 2022, 4,246 for 2021 and 5,145 for 2020.
  • Chattanooga: 3,591 for 2025, 3,990 for 2024, 4,769 for 2023, 4,322 for 2022, 6,631 for 2021 and 7,459 for 2020.
  • East Ridge: 761 for 2025, 1,088 for 2024, 1,141 for 2023, 1,196 for 2022, 1,741 for 2021 and 1,642 for 2020.
  • Collegedale: 504 for 2025, 479 for 2024, 619 for 2023, 702 for 2022, 743 for 2021 and 683 for 2020.
  • Soddy-Daisy: 496 for 2025, 419 for 2024, 629 for 2023, 581 for 2022, 574 for 2021 and 513 for 2020.
  • Red Bank: 471 for 2025, 515 for 2024, 381 for 2023, 337 for 2022, 293 for 2021 and 438 for 2020.
  • Signal Mountain: 13 for 2025, 40 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 30 for 2022, 12 for 2021 and 16 for 2020.
  • Lookout Mountain: 17 for 2023, 29 for 2022, 22 for 2020 and 26 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.

Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,513 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 10,513 in 2025 against 11,470 in 2024, down 8.3 percent.

Through August 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 7,090 arrests, against 7,070 in the same months of 2025.

Lookout Mountain reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Hamilton County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Hamilton County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.

On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 540 people, down from about 2,470 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 542 beds, and it ran at 99 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 Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at hcsheriff.gov/Corrections/Inmates-app (page title: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Website), phone 423-209-7000, 600 Market St Chattanooga, TN 37402, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.

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 Hamilton County

For Hamilton County the place to look is the case index of the Hamilton County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hamiltontn.gov/CircuitCourt_TNCaseFinder.aspx, phone 423-209-6700).

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 Hamilton County

An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Hamilton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 423-209-7000.
  • An arrest in Chattanooga, East Ridge, Soddy-Daisy, Red Bank, Collegedale, Signal Mountain or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
  • An arrest by Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, Chattanooga State Community College or the Chattanooga Housing Authority: the records office of the agency involved.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Hamilton County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at hamiltontn.gov/CircuitCourt_TNCaseFinder.aspx, phone 423-209-6700.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at elect.hamiltontn.gov/ORR.aspx (page title: Hamilton TN | Open Records Request Form).
  • Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

Cities in Hamilton County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the ten cities in Hamilton County: Chattanooga, East Ridge, Soddy-Daisy, Red Bank, Collegedale, Signal Mountain and Lookout Mountain. Walden, Lakesite and Ridgeside have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Hamilton County Circuit and Chancery Courts.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Hamilton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Hamilton County each year?

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office reported 4,677 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 10,513 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hamilton County?

Ask the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 423-209-7000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hcsheriff.gov/Corrections/Inmates-app.

Where are people arrested in Hamilton County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Hamilton 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 elect.hamiltontn.gov/ORR.aspx.

Is this the official Hamilton 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.