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 9, 2026.
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, has about 59,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and one state agency. 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 Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Pittsylvania Circuit Court. 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: Pittsylvania County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pittsylvania County
The Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pittsylvania County. It reported 819 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
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:
- Gretna, 1,276 residents: 17 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hurt, 1,239 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chatham, 1,195 residents: 10 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 one more agency in Pittsylvania County: the Pittsylvania County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Pittsylvania 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.
- Gretna: 17 for 2025, 10 for 2022, 6 for 2021, 4 for 2020 and 6 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Chatham: 10 for 2025, 1 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Hurt: 2 for 2025 and 7 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office: 819 for 2024, 766 for 2023, 705 for 2022, 758 for 2020 and 1,107 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 29 arrests that year.
Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (8 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pittsylvania County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Pittsylvania 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 2025 the jail held about 91 people, down from about 96 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 36 beds, and it ran at 268 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Virginia Department of Corrections lists its inmates at vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Pittsylvania County
For Pittsylvania County the place to look is the case index of the Pittsylvania Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at pittsylvaniacountyva.gov/m/directory/department?did=32, phone 434-432-7887).
Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
Virginia does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Virginia State Police goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Pittsylvania 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 Virginia Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 working days, and it may charge the actual cost of searching and copying.
- An arrest by the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Gretna, Hurt or Chatham: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Pittsylvania County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Pittsylvania Circuit Court, through the court records page at pittsylvaniacountyva.gov, phone 434-432-7887.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at pittsylvaniacountyva.nextrequest.com (page title: Request For RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
The other Pittsylvania County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Pittsylvania County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Pittsylvania County: Gretna, Hurt and Chatham.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Pittsylvania Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pittsylvania County each year?
Gretna reported 17 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 29 between them.
Where are people arrested in Pittsylvania County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pittsylvania County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Pittsylvania Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Virginia State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Pittsylvania County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 working days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at pittsylvaniacountyva.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Pittsylvania 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.