Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Clayton County, Georgia, has about 298,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Georgia the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Georgia Crime Information Center is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Clayton County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Clayton County public records, Clayton County arrest records, Clayton County warrants, Clayton County inmate search, Clayton County court records, Georgia arrest records and Georgia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Clayton County Superior Court
A criminal case from Clayton County is filed in the Clayton County Superior Court or the State Court and Magistrate Court, which take misdemeanors and traffic cases in the State Court where the county has one, otherwise in the Probate Court; small claims and warrants in the Magistrate Court, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at weba.claytoncountyga.gov/casinqsvr/htdocs/index.shtml (page title: Clayton County, GA | Court Search Options), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Georgia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Georgia Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Georgia is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: Georgia Felon Search lets anyone check felony convictions online by name, through the Georgia Crime Information Center. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at gbi.georgia.gov/services/obtaining-criminal-history-record-informat....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Clayton County
The Clayton County Police Department and the agencies that report for Forest Park, Riverdale, Lovejoy, Morrow, Jonesboro and Lake City keep the arrest records in Clayton County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Clayton County: Clayton State University (campus police); Clayton County Schools (other agency); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
The College Park Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Clayton County, so its arrests are not broken out for Clayton County here.
Together, the three agencies in Clayton County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,499 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Clayton County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Clayton County in 2024
The four agencies in Clayton County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,723 violent and 7,080 property crimes to the FBI that year; the three of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 8,136 crimes in 2024 against 10,230 in 2023. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Clayton County public records guide.
The Sex Offender Registry for Clayton County
Registered sex offenders living in Clayton County are listed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry, run by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at state.sor.gbi.ga.gov/sort_public. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff keeps the local list.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Clayton County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Georgia Open Records Act a county office must answer a request within 3 business days, and it may charge for search, retrieval and copying after the first quarter hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Clayton County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Georgia Crime Information Center: Georgia Felon Search lets anyone check felony convictions online by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Georgia Open Records Act.
Can I search Clayton County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at weba.claytoncountyga.gov (page title: Clayton County, GA | Court Search Options).
How do I get my own Georgia criminal history?
A fingerprint-based request through Georgia Applicant Processing Services.
Is this the official Clayton 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.