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.
Wilson County, Tennessee, has about 170,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wilson 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 Wilson 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: Wilson County public records, Tennessee arrest records, Tennessee inmate search and Tennessee criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wilson County
The Wilson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wilson County. It reported 3,172 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Lebanon, 51,501 residents: 1,631 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Juliet, 44,066 residents: 2,591 arrests reported for 2025.
- Watertown, 1,642 residents: 47 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 Wilson 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.
- Wilson County Sheriff's Office: 3,172 for 2025, 2,974 for 2024, 2,685 for 2023, 2,589 for 2022, 2,576 for 2021 and 2,741 for 2020.
- Mount Juliet: 2,591 for 2025, 2,565 for 2024, 2,790 for 2023, 2,643 for 2022, 1,757 for 2021 and 1,315 for 2020.
- Lebanon: 1,631 for 2025, 2,011 for 2024, 2,004 for 2023, 1,718 for 2022, 1,563 for 2021 and 1,779 for 2020.
- Watertown: 47 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 23 for 2022, 38 for 2021 and 3 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,441 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,441 in 2025 against 7,565 in 2024, down 1.6 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,400 arrests, against 3,214 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wilson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wilson 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 510 people, down from about 550 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 458 beds, and it ran at 110 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 Wilson County Sheriff's Office at wilsoncountytn.gov/m/directory/department?did=33 (page title: Staff Directory, Sheriff), phone 615-444-1412, 115 E High Street Lebanon, TN 37087, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Wilson County
For Wilson County the place to look is the case index of the Wilson County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at wilsoncountytn.gov/173/Clerk-Master, phone 615-444-2835).
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 Wilson 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 Wilson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 615-444-1412.
- An arrest in Lebanon, Mount Juliet or Watertown: 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 Wilson County Circuit and Chancery Courts, through the court records page at wilsoncountytn.gov/173/Clerk-Master, phone 615-444-2835.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Wilson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Wilson County: Lebanon, Mount Juliet and Watertown.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Wilson County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Wilson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Lebanon (51,501)
- Mount Juliet (44,066)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wilson County each year?
The Wilson County Sheriff's Office reported 3,172 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,441 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wilson County?
Ask the Wilson County Sheriff's Office at 615-444-1412; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wilsoncountytn.gov.
Where are people arrested in Wilson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wilson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wilson 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 Wilson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wilson 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 Wilson 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.