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.
Macon County, Tennessee, has about 27,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Macon County Sheriff's Office and two city 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 Macon 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: Macon County public records, Tennessee arrest records, Tennessee inmate search and Tennessee criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Macon County
The Macon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Macon County. It reported 846 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Lafayette, 5,919 residents: 318 arrests reported for 2025.
- Red Boiling Springs, 1,214 residents: 56 arrests reported for 2025.
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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Macon 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.
- Macon County Sheriff's Office: 846 for 2025, 1,049 for 2024, 863 for 2023, 902 for 2022, 876 for 2021 and 771 for 2020.
- Lafayette: 318 for 2025, 368 for 2024, 409 for 2023, 351 for 2022 and 342 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Red Boiling Springs: 56 for 2025, 50 for 2024, 53 for 2023, 50 for 2020 and 61 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,220 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,220 in 2025 against 1,467 in 2024, down 17 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 707 arrests, against 815 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Macon County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Macon 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 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 125 beds, and it ran at 134 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office at maconcountytn.gov/emergency/sheriff_department.php (page title: Macon County, TN), phone (615) 666-3325, 902 Hwy 52 Bypass East Lafayette, TN 37083, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Macon County
Whether someone was arrested in Macon County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Macon County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at maconcountytn.gov/visitors/courts/general_sessions.php, phone 615-666-2354); the District Attorney General, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at maconcountytn.gov/visitors/county_attorney.php, phone 615-666-2172).
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 Macon 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (615) 666-3325.
- An arrest in Lafayette or Red Boiling Springs: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney General, 615-666-2172, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Macon County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at maconcountytn.gov, phone 615-666-2354.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Macon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Macon County: Lafayette and Red Boiling Springs.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Macon County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Macon County each year?
The Macon County Sheriff's Office reported 846 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,220 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Macon County?
Ask the Macon County Sheriff's Office at (615) 666-3325; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at maconcountytn.gov.
Where are people arrested in Macon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Macon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Macon 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 Macon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Macon 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.
Is this the official Macon 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.