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.
Washington County, Tennessee, has about 140,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washington County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and two 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 Washington 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: Washington County public records, Tennessee arrest records, Tennessee inmate search and Tennessee criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washington County
The Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washington County. It reported 3,451 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Washington County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Johnson City, 73,635 residents: 4,157 arrests reported for 2025.
- Jonesborough, 6,746 residents: 153 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Washington County: Drug Task Force's 1st Judicial District (other); East Tennessee State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washington 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.
- Johnson City: 4,157 for 2025, 3,852 for 2024, 3,590 for 2023, 3,335 for 2022, 3,764 for 2021 and 3,817 for 2020.
- Washington County Sheriff's Office: 3,451 for 2025, 3,448 for 2024, 3,443 for 2023, 3,606 for 2022, 3,406 for 2021 and 2,969 for 2020.
- Jonesborough: 153 for 2025, 125 for 2024, 92 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 222 for 2021 and 201 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,761 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,761 in 2025 against 7,425 in 2024, up 4.5 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 5,060 arrests, against 5,295 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washington County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Washington 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 630 people, down from about 760 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 708 beds, and it ran at 89 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office at wcso.net (page title: Washington County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Tennessee Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Washington County
An arrest in Washington County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Washington County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at washingtoncountytn.org/263/Courts); the District Attorney General, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tennesseeda.gov/district-1).
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 Washington 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Johnson City or Jonesborough: 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 Drug Task Force's 1st Judicial District or East Tennessee State University: 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 Washington County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at washingtoncountytn.org/263/Courts.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washingtoncountytn.org (page title: FORM 1 PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST FORM WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Washington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Washington County: Johnson City and Jonesborough.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Washington County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Washington County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Johnson City (73,635)
- Jonesborough (6,746)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washington County each year?
Johnson City reported 4,157 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,761 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Washington County?
Ask the Washington County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wcso.net.
Where are people arrested in Washington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Washington 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 Washington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washington 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 washingtoncountytn.org.
Is this the official Washington 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.