Georgia has 159 counties, and every one of them elects its own sheriff. That makes the sheriff's office the one law enforcement agency found in every part of the state, from the large detention operations around Atlanta to a small courthouse office in Alamo, in Wheeler County. This page explains who runs these offices, what they actually do, and how to reach the right one for jail questions, court papers, records, and registrations.

Who Runs a Sheriff's Office in Georgia

The sheriff is a constitutional officer, not an appointee of the county commission. Georgia's constitution creates the office, and voters in each county elect the sheriff to a four-year term. State law, found mainly in Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, sets minimum qualifications and core duties. A candidate must meet an age requirement, have no felony conviction, and hold peace officer certification through the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, known as POST.

Sheriff races appear on the general-election ballot in the same cycle as the presidential election. That means a change of sheriff is a local political event, and a new sheriff can reshape jail policy, patrol coverage, and public counter hours.

No single state agency supervises all 159 sheriffs. Each one answers to local voters and sets policy for his or her own deputies and jail. Several state bodies still touch the work. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association is a professional group that offers training and support, but it has no power over any office. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) assists on major cases when a local agency asks, and it maintains the statewide sex offender registry. The Georgia Department of Corrections runs state prisons, while county jails belong to the sheriff.

Deputies are hired by the sheriff and are not elected. If you have a complaint about a deputy, start with the sheriff's office itself, since the elected sheriff is directly accountable for how staff and the jail are run. Serious conduct issues can also involve POST, which certifies peace officers statewide.

Metro Atlanta Sheriffs Versus Rural South Georgia Offices

Georgia has more counties than any state except Texas, and the size gap between them is wide. The largest counties have hundreds of thousands of residents, while the smallest have a few thousand or fewer. The same job title covers very different operations.

In the metro counties, the sheriff's office is often a large organization built around the jail, courthouse security, and civil process, while a county or city police department handles most patrol. The Clayton County Sheriff's Office at 9157 Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro, reachable at 770-471-1122, works in that setting. So does the sheriff of Cobb County, who runs the county's adult detention center. In Cherokee County, the Sheriff's Department and jail are listed together at 498 Chattin Drive in Canton, 770-345-3300.

Rural counties look different. There the sheriff's office is frequently the main law enforcement agency, covering patrol, the jail, and court papers from one building. Wheeler County's Sheriff's Office and jail share 21 Forest Avenue in Alamo (912-568-7107). Wilcox County's office and jail are at 126 West Main Street in Abbeville (229-467-2331), Union County's are at 378 Beasley Street in Blairsville (706-439-6066), and Taylor County's are at 5 Ivy Street in Butler (478-862-5444). Staffing is smaller, so calls may roll to dispatch after hours, and a deputy may be out on a call when you walk in.

Do not rely on the word 'sheriff' when searching. Sumter County's office in Americus, McIntosh County's in Darien, and Newton County's in Covington all carry the name Law Enforcement Center. Mitchell County uses Justice Center in Camilla, and the Blakely listing is titled Early County Department of Public Safety.

Consolidated city-county governments

Georgia has several consolidated governments, and they change who does what. Augusta and Richmond County merged in 1996, and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office serves as the main law enforcement agency for the consolidated government. Our listing for its Southgate Plaza Substation, 1631 Gordon Highway, shows 706-821-1000. Athens and Clarke County merged earlier, and the Clarke County Sheriff's Office at 325 East Washington Street (706-613-3250) handles the jail and courts side while Athens-Clarke police patrol.

The practical rule for every county is the same. City police respond inside city limits, the sheriff covers unincorporated areas, and the sheriff runs the jail for everyone. Call 911 for emergencies and use the office's regular number for everything else.

What a Georgia Sheriff's Office Handles, and What It Does Not

Most visits and calls fall into a short list of tasks.

Several things people expect from the sheriff are handled elsewhere. The probate court issues Georgia weapons carry licenses and marriage licenses. The county tax commissioner handles vehicle tags and property taxes. The Georgia Department of Driver Services issues driver's licenses. If the sheriff's office cannot help, a deputy or front-desk clerk can usually point you to the correct courthouse office.

Reading the Georgia Sheriff Listings Before You Drive Anywhere

Some listings give a post office box rather than a street address. The Effingham County Sheriff's Office in Springfield is listed at PO Box 1015, and the Pike County Sheriff's Office entry in Oglethorpe at PO Box 345. A box is for mail and cannot be visited. Call 912-754-3449 or 478-472-6447 first and ask for the street address and public counter hours.

Other entries, such as the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office at 311 Linda Drive Northeast in Milledgeville (478-445-4891) or the Evans County office at 123 West Main Street in Claxton (912-739-1611), list full street addresses you can use directly.

Before any visit, bring a government-issued photo ID, case or citation numbers, and any court papers. Jails run around the clock, but front-desk records windows usually keep weekday business hours, and visitation follows each jail's own schedule. A short phone call usually saves a wasted trip, particularly in counties with only a handful of staff on duty.

County boundaries also trip people up. A few listings in our database carry a county label that differs from the name on the office, so confirm jurisdiction by where the incident happened or where the person lives rather than by the label alone.

A quick way to choose the right office: if your question is about an arrest or an inmate, call the jail in the county where the arrest happened. If it is about court papers, call the sheriff of the county where the person or property is located. If it is about a crime inside a city, start with that city's police department. If it happened in the countryside, the sheriff is the agency to call.

Sheriff offices in Georgia are independently elected county agencies responsible for law enforcement, jail operations, and civil process service. Each county in Georgia elects its own sheriff, who serves as the chief law enforcement officer for that county's unincorporated areas.

Sheriff locations are available in 170 cities across Georgia. They are spread across 153 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration of sheriff office listings include Augusta, Springfield, Darien, reflecting the population centers where multiple sub-offices or specialty divisions may be located.

Georgia residents should note that sheriff offices handle civil law enforcement functions — such as serving eviction notices and foreclosure papers — in addition to criminal law enforcement, so the sheriff office is often the correct point of contact for civil legal matters at the county level.

Sheriff by Counties

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
W

If you are a Georgia resident looking to obtain a concealed carry permit, request a background check clearance letter, or serve legal documents through official channels, your county sheriff office is the starting point — contact them directly to confirm required documentation and current processing times.

Browse Sheriff by county across Georgia to find the nearest location.

How Sheriff Coverage Differs Across Georgia's Regions

Geography shapes which office you will deal with. In north Georgia, the Union County Sheriff's Office in Blairsville and the Gordon County Sheriff's Department in Calhoun (101 Piedmont Street, 706-629-1244) serve smaller communities, while Bartow County's office at 104 Zena Drive in Cartersville (770-382-5050) sits closer to the metro commuter belt. On the coast, the McIntosh County Law Enforcement Center at 714 Georgia 251 in Darien (912-437-6622) covers a county with extensive marsh and river frontage.

Southwest Georgia has a dense cluster of small county offices. Our database files six listings under Clay County, the most of any county, and one of them is the Early County Department of Public Safety at 18610 East South Boulevard in Blakely (229-723-3577). Blakely is the Early County seat, so confirm which county's sheriff has authority over your matter before you call. In middle Georgia, the Oglethorpe entry listed as the Pike County Sheriff's Office (478-472-6447) is filed under Macon County, whose county seat is Oglethorpe. Wherever you are, start with the phone number, ask which office covers your address, and write down the name of the person you spoke with.

Sheriff in Georgia: Frequently Asked Questions

Voters in each of Georgia's 159 counties elect their own sheriff to a four-year term, so the person in charge of your county jail answers to local voters rather than to the governor or the county commission. State law requires the sheriff to meet minimum qualifications, including peace officer certification through POST. Deputies are hired by the sheriff and serve at his or her direction. If you want to raise concerns about how an office is run, you can contact the sheriff directly, speak with the county commission about funding, or use the ballot at the next election.

No. In Georgia, the probate court in your county issues weapons carry licenses, not the sheriff. Since April 2022, Georgia has allowed most adults who can legally own a firearm to carry without a license, but a license can still matter for reciprocity when you travel to states that honor Georgia permits. Application steps, fees, and fingerprinting requirements are set through the probate court, so call the probate clerk at your county courthouse before applying. The sheriff's office may be able to tell you where to get fingerprints taken locally.

Start with the sheriff's office in the county where the arrest happened, because Georgia county jails are run by the sheriff. Many offices post an online inmate list, and the front desk can confirm custody by phone. Have the person's full legal name and date of birth ready. Ask about bond amounts, how to pay, and when visits are allowed, since rules differ by jail. For example, the Clayton County Sheriff's Office answers at 770-471-1122 and the Cherokee County jail at 770-345-3300. Someone moved to a state prison is tracked by the Georgia Department of Corrections instead.

A landlord cannot have a tenant removed just by asking the sheriff. The landlord must file a dispossessory case in court, and only after a judge rules and a writ of possession is issued can a sheriff's deputy, or in a few places a marshal, carry it out. If you receive court papers, answer them by the deadline printed on them and appear when the court sets a hearing. If you are a landlord, contact the civil process section in the county where the property sits to ask about scheduling and fees, which vary by county.

Georgia requires people with qualifying convictions to register with the sheriff of the county where they live, and to update the registration when they move. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintains the statewide registry, which can be searched online by name or address. If you have a concern about a specific address, call the sheriff's office in that county to ask how updates are handled. Anyone who must register should bring identification and proof of residence, and should call ahead, because some counties handle registration at set hours or by appointment.

Some small offices publish only a mailing address, and a few listings carry a county label that differs from the office name. Our database shows the Pike County Sheriff's Office entry in Oglethorpe filed under Macon County, and the Grady County Sheriffs Department in Cairo filed under Terrell County, even though Cairo is the seat of Grady County. Treat the phone number as your starting point. Call, say where the incident happened or where the person lives, and ask for the street address and counter hours. The county where an event occurred normally decides which sheriff handles it.

Georgia's Open Records Act lets anyone ask for public records, and the agency must respond within three business days. Put the request in writing, describe the record clearly, and include the date, location, and names involved. Agencies may charge up to ten cents per page for copies plus reasonable search time, and they can withhold material tied to active investigations. Ask the records clerk whether the office has a request form or online portal. Small rural offices may route requests through the county's open records officer, so allow extra time.