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 on September 23, 2026.
Rhea County, Tennessee, has about 35,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rhea County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Rhea 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: Rhea County public records, Tennessee arrest records, Tennessee inmate search and Tennessee criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rhea County
The Rhea County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rhea County. It reported 795 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Rhea County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Dayton, 7,796 residents: 290 arrests reported for 2024.
- Spring City, 1,996 residents: 76 arrests reported for 2023.
- Graysville, 1,508 residents: 50 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Rhea 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.
- Rhea County Sheriff's Office: 795 for 2025, 588 for 2024, 790 for 2023, 708 for 2022, 2,217 for 2021 and 1,434 for 2020.
- Dayton: 290 for 2024, 294 for 2023, 317 for 2022, 565 for 2021, 483 for 2020 and 482 for 2019.
- Spring City: 76 for 2023, 77 for 2020 and 67 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Graysville: 50 for 2023, 45 for 2020 and 76 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 1,210 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 1,084 in 2023 against 1,025 in 2022, up 5.8 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rhea County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Rhea 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 2024 the jail held about 270 people, up from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 342 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Rhea County Sheriff's Office at rheacountytn.gov/contact-us-2 (page title: Contact Us | Rhea County Sheriff's Office.), phone 423-775-7832, 7800 Rhea County Hwy Dayton, TN 37321, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 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 Rhea County
For Rhea County the place to look is the case index of the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at tncourts.gov/node/9782384).
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 Rhea 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 Rhea County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 423-775-7832.
- An arrest in Dayton, Spring City or Graysville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at tncourts.gov/node/9782384.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Rhea County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Rhea County: Dayton, Spring City and Graysville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Rhea County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Rhea County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Dayton (7,796)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rhea County each year?
The Rhea County Sheriff's Office reported 795 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Rhea County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 1,210 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Rhea County?
Ask the Rhea County Sheriff's Office at 423-775-7832; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at rheacountytn.gov/contact-us-2.
Where are people arrested in Rhea County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rhea County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rhea 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 Rhea County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rhea 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 Rhea 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.