In DeKalb County, GA, the Magistrate Court issues arrest warrants for both criminal and civil offenses. Those arrest warrants are executed either by the Sheriff’s Office or the DeKalb Police Department. Once a warrant has been issued, it will usually take at least two days to be processed through the system and given active status to be served to the alleged offender. (An active warrant allows a law enforcement officer to arrest the individual named on the warrant. On the other hand, an outstanding warrant is an active warrant that has not been served to the individual within a certain period after it was issued. The Magistrate Court also issues bench warrants, which are orders from a judge to arrest an individual for failing to appear before the court on a specified date.) At that point, the District Attorney or Solicitor will notify both the defendant and the prosecutor of the court date, either by mail or through a subpoena.
To find out the status of an arrest warrant, you can call the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office Warrant Union three days after the date of its issuance. The Magistrate Court, which issues criminal warrants, is located at 3630 Camp Circle, 4400 Memorial Drive Complex, Decatur, Georgia, 30032. Both the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and the Police Department post the names and identifying information of the Most Wanted offenders online. They also have an index called the Online Judicial System or OJS. The OJS is a database that allows you to search for the details of civil or criminal cases and arrest reports, as well as looking up specific offenders either according to their name or to the type of charges brought against them. Any individual is allowed to access the OJS, no matter which category you choose to identify yourself with when you “login.” The OJS is located at http://www.ojs.dekalbga.org/. DeKalb County is also a part of VINELink, which provides resources for victims of crime and information on offenders’ custody status. Alternatively, you can refer to the search form above for an online arrest records check.
How do you get information on DeKalb County active warrants and arrests over the phone? (2021- Update)
- Questions on recent arrests: 404-298-8145
- Inquiries about arrest warrants: 404-298-8200
- Questions and complaints about fugitives: 404-298-8402
- Details pertaining to sex offenders and sex offender registration: 404-298-8397 or 404-298-8200 (After hours).
- Inmate records-related inquiries: 404-298-8171 (Open Records) or 404-298-8195 (Bail-bonding)
- Inquiries pertaining to police records, including criminal background checks: 770-724-7740
- General questions for the DeKalb County Police Department: 770-724-7600 (North-Central), 770-482-0300 (East), 404-286-7900 (South), 678-937-5301 (Tucker)
- Criminal investigation related inquiries: 770-724-7841/42
- Questions pertaining to victim/witness assistance: 404-371-2201.
- Inquiries about criminal court records: 404-371-3272 (Recorders Court), 404-294-2150 (Magistrate Court), 404-371-2000 (State Court)
Crime Statistics of DeKalb County, GA
In 2019, the DeKalb Sheriff’s Department registered around 42,200 criminal complaints, as opposed to the more than 58,700 cases filed in 2018. These included around 36,300 property crimes and approximately 6,000 crimes against persons.
The property crimes reported were: more than 26,000 larceny thefts, around 5,260 burglaries, and more than 5,000 motor vehicle thefts, and 134 cases of arson. Violent crimes involved more than 3,550 aggravated assaults, around 280 rapes, more than 1,700 robberies, and nearly 165 murders.
Between 2008 and 2010, DeKalb County had a total of just over 125,000 crimes, falling into the categories of vehicle theft, burglary, larceny, robbery, assault, rape, and murder. The number of crimes fell significantly from 2008 to 2009, from around 46,000 to a little more than 39,500. Between 2009 and 2010, the drop was not quite large, falling by about 400 crimes to approximately 39,100. However, it still shows that the number of crimes is growing less in DeKalb County, Georgia, which is an encouraging trend.