How to Search Georgia Criminal Records (Start Here)
Georgia criminal records come from two main sources: the state criminal history repository (maintained by the state police or equivalent agency) and individual county court systems. These are separate databases that may show different information.
What this page covers: Georgia state-level criminal history searches, county court criminal case lookups, and sex offender registry searches. What it does not cover: Federal criminal cases (those require PACER) or arrest records that did not result in charges.
Where to start: For a broad criminal history check, start with the state repository. For specific case details (charges, dispositions, documents), go to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case was filed. For sex offenders, use the state sex offender registry.
Common mistake: A state criminal history search and a county court search are not the same thing. The state repository compiles conviction data from across the state. County courts have the actual case files with full detail. You may need both.
Statewide criminal-history agency
Public name-based search
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Fingerprint-based screening
Sex offender registry
Open records statute
Number of counties
159 counties
Population
11,180,878
Households
4,074,366
Median Income
$74,632
Median Home Value
$303,300
SearchSystems Editorial
Edited by Sam Rokni — Editor & Owner, SearchSystems.net. Public records professional since 1999. NAPBS founding member. Full bio & credentials.
Last reviewed: June 04, 2026 · Methodology: Georgia repository URL, fee, and statute verified against the official Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC publisher on review date. 6 primary .gov sources cited below.
Georgia Criminal Records — Key Numbers (2026)
Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) maintains the Computerized Criminal History (CCH) for arrest, disposition, and custodial data.
$15 online
Public access fee
Per state-only check
In-person at GCIC Lobby
Primary method
How to submit
Georgia Bureau of Invest
Issuing agency
Statewide repository
O.C.G.A. §35-3-30
Governing statute
State law citation
June 04, 2026
Last reviewed
By SearchSystems
State-only check (State Identification Bureau): Returns arrests, dispositions and convictions reported to that one state's repository. It does not include arrests from other states or most federal cases. See the FBI's directory of state agencies: State Identification Bureau Listing.
Multi-state / federal check (FBI Identity History Summary): Returns records contributed by federal, state, local, and tribal agencies through the FBI's Interstate Identification Index (III). See FBI Identity History Summary FAQs and Interstate Identification Index (III).
What state repositories miss: The FBI's national survey of state criminal-history information systems documents known reporting gaps (missing dispositions, delayed updates, sealed/expunged handling). See BJS: Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems.
What Changed in 2026 — Georgia Criminal Records
2026
Georgia state-only check active
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC continues to process state criminal history checks via gbi.georgia.gov.
2026
Georgia background check fee structure
Current fee for a Georgia state-only check: $15 (Georgia Felon Search, online). Method: In-person at GCIC Lobby Office or local law enforcement.
2026
Georgia statutory framework
Georgia criminal history records are governed by O.C.G.A. §35-3-30 and disseminated through Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC.
2026
FBI Identity History Summary (federal complement)
For records that may exist outside Georgia, the FBI Identity History Summary at fbi.gov complements the state-only result.
The 4-Step Georgia Criminal Records Pathway
1
Step 1 — Confirm what you need
For most non-employment uses, a Georgia state-only check from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC is sufficient.
2
Step 2 — Choose your method
In-person at GCIC Lobby Office or local law enforcement. Current fee: $15 (Georgia Felon Search, online).
3
Step 3 — Submit your request
Use the official portal at gbi.georgia.gov — never a third-party data broker.
4
Step 4 — Add federal coverage if needed
For pre-employment FCRA screening or out-of-state coverage, add an FBI Identity History Summary check ($18) — fingerprint required.
Five Things People Get Wrong About Georgia Criminal Records
MYTH"Georgia background check shows everything."
FACTThe Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC check covers ONLY Georgia arrests/convictions. Out-of-state and federal records are NOT included.
MYTH"Free third-party 'instant' checks are accurate."
FACTOnly gbi.georgia.gov (the official Georgia repository) is authoritative. Data brokers often have stale data.
MYTH"Sealed records will show on a check."
FACTRecords sealed or expunged under Georgia law are removed from public-facing checks. Law enforcement may still access them.
MYTH"Arrest = conviction on my record."
FACTAn arrest is not a conviction. Most Georgia public checks distinguish arrests, dispositions, and convictions; the FCRA bars non-conviction arrests older than 7 years from employer checks.
MYTH"State and FBI checks return the same data."
FACTThe Georgia state check shows Georgia-only records. The FBI check is fingerprint-based and shows records reported by all agencies nationwide.
Primary Sources and Official Record Portals
- gbi.georgia.gov — Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC — Official Georgia criminal history portal
- fbi.gov — Identity History Summary — FBI fingerprint-based federal check ($18)
- fbi.gov — State ID Bureau listing — FBI listing of every state's repository
- ftc.gov — FCRA basics — Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act rules
- ftc.gov — Background Checks employer guide — FTC + EEOC employer guidance
- bjs.ojp.gov — Bureau of Justice Statistics — Federal stats on state criminal record systems
Related Criminal Records Resources
📍 Other Georgia records:
- Georgia Court Records →
- Georgia Property Records →
- Georgia Vital Records →
- Georgia Voter Records →
- Georgia Wants & Warrants →
- Georgia Licenses →
- Georgia Recorded Documents →
🇺🇸 Criminal Records in other states:
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National: U.S. Criminal Records hub →
Related Public Records
More Georgia records: Court records · Wants & warrants · Property records · Vital records · Voter records · Licenses · Recorded docs
National view of this topic: All states: Criminal records
Not sure who may legally check whom? The Georgia background check guide explains the official routes, the court-record option, and your FCRA rights.
Looking for someone in custody right now? The Georgia inmate search page collects the state, county, and federal locators in one place.
Criminal Records Databases
51 official Georgia criminal records sources.
Criminal Records
State Court of Richmond County | Augusta, GA - Official Website
Official Free
The State Court of Richmond County has a long and interesting history and was created with the passage of Act 253, (House Bill 963), entitled “An Act to establish a City Court in the County of Richmond” passed by the Georgia Legislature and approved by The Honorable Alfred H.
IN THE STATE COURT OF BIBB COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA CIVIL ACTION #
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Court case information for Georgia. Attorneys of record appear on the docket, useful when you need to contact a party. Fee waivers and forms usually live on the same court site.
Divisions | Camden County Sheriff, GA
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The Civil/Warrants Division of the Camden County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for processing and serving criminal warrants, civil papers, and protection orders, as well as handling inmate transports, validations, and background requests.
Chatham County, GA - Court System
Official Free
Case records from the Georgia courts serving Chatham County surface through this system. Searching the official side is free.
Chatham County Sheriff's Office - Jail ATM
Official Free
Current inmate roster for Georgia, published by the sheriff's office. State prison inmates are listed separately in the corrections department's own locator. Search with the exact legal name; nicknames are the usual reason a lookup comes up empty.
Courts - Clayton County, Georgia
Official Free
Court case information for Georgia. Judgment and disposition entries here are what background screeners verify against. Hearing calendars on the same system show what is coming up, not just what happened.
Inmate Search - Clayton County, Georgia
Official Free
Current inmate roster for Georgia, published by the sheriff's office. Recent bookings can lag a few hours behind the arrest itself. Search with the exact legal name; nicknames are the usual reason a lookup comes up empty.
General Information - Clayton County, Georgia
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The Court must interview the Defendant to determine if the person is qualified under the Georgia Indigent Defense Guidelines to receive a court-appointed attorney. Factors for the Court to consider include the employment of the person, any extraordinary expenses the person has, their assets, the likelihood that the person will receive a jail sentence, and other matters. Contact the Administrative Assistant for the Judge to whom the case is assigned.
Cobb County Jail | Georgia Department of Corrections
Official Free
Current inmate roster for Georgia, published by the sheriff's office. Recent bookings can lag a few hours behind the arrest itself. Holds for other agencies are flagged, which is why some names linger after local charges resolve.
Find an Offender | Georgia Department of Corrections
Official Free
Office directory for Georgia. Bookmark it if you work across multiple counties; the layout rarely changes. It maps which office holds which record type, the question that stalls most searches.
Docket Search – Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Official Free
Search the status of all cases since January of 2003. You can search with one of the following: The docket/case number, example A03A1234 Trial court case number
Case Management | Coweta County, GA Website
Official Free
Please be advised that the Court's Web Docket is real time. The Docket used by personnel of the Clerk's Office does not contain any information more current than that displayed on the Web Docket. Access Case Management.
Georgia Applicant Processing Service (GAPS) | Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Official Free
Fixed GAPS offices will be located throughout the state so that Georgia residents will not travel more than 25 – 30 miles to be fingerprinted. Search results and criminal history records or “rapsheets” will be available for the agency to retrieve directly from the GAPS website within 24-48 hours after the applicant is fingerprinted and the transaction submitted to GCIC.
Georgia Felon Search – Georgia Courts
Official Free
Case records from the Georgia courts serving Georgia surface through this system. Searching the official side is free.
CM Web Search
Official Free
The Dougherty County Public Records presents the information on this web site as a service to the public. We have tried to ensure that the information contained in this electronic search system is accurate.
Judge Joseph W. Dent Criminal Jury Trial Calendars( ...
Official Free
Court case information for Georgia — dockets, hearing dates, and case lookups. If a link breaks, the office homepage at dougherty.ga.us carries the new path.
Jail/ Detention | Floyd County Sheriff
Official Free
The Floyd County Jail is the largest building owned by the Floyd County Government. It is 256,000 square feet and contains 776 beds. The jail serves Floyd County, The City of Rome, and Cave Spring, housing pre-trial detainees as well as county-sentenced and state-sentenced inmates .
INMATE SEARCH - Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
Official Free
Current inmate roster for Georgia, published by the sheriff's office. If a name is missing, the person may have bonded out or been moved — rosters change several times a day.
RE Search
Official Free
The Henry County Clerk of Superior Court presents remote access to Real Estate Records as a service to the public. There is no charge for this access to data or images. The user is advised to search on all possible spelling variations of proper names, in order to maximize results.
Bibb County Sheriff's Office Inmate Search
Official Free
Bibb County Sheriff's Office — official department page (booking, jail, wanted).
Inmate TPM
Official Free
The Parole Board reserves the right to withdraw the grant of parole prior to the effective date if, in its discretion, it believes it to be in the public interest to do so.
Paulding
Official Free
Sorry You are not an Authenticated User To view this information you must have a valid login and be logged into the Application
Arrests from the Last 7 Days | Athens-Clarke County, GA - Official Website
Official Free
Use of the information is the sole responsibility of the user. Records include inmates booked with a 24 hour delay and are updated every 15 minutes thereafter. Website records shall be available up to seven days after the arrest of an inmate. For official records, please contact the Clarke County Sheriff's Office.
Lumpkin County, Georgia Inmate Search | LumpkinRecords.us
Official Free
Georgia law does not broadly exempt jail booking records or inmate rosters from public disclosure. The following categories of inmate information are currently accessible to members of the public: Current inmate roster — a list of individuals presently held in the Lumpkin County Detention Center · Booking and arrest records — date, time, and location of arrest and booking · Charges filed — criminal charges for which the individual is being held
Sex - Inmate Information
Official Free
Current inmate information for Georgia is published here. It sits outside government; official offices remain the record of authority.
VINELink
Official Free
Official public records resource for Georgia. Government sites reorganize often; if a link breaks, the office's homepage will carry the new path. Start here before paying any commercial site for the same information.
BCSO | Command Staff
Official Free
The Brooks County Detention Facility is a major function of the Brooks County Sheriff's Office. Currently, it operates with 18 full-time officers operating the facility 24 hours a day. The daily average inmate population is 64 inmates .
Catoosa County Sheriff's Office | Sheriff Gary Sisk
Official Free
The current Catoosa County Jail is a modern detention facility opened in September of 2002. The 54,000 square foot facility has the capacity to house 248 inmates .
Jail Search
Official Free
Current inmate roster for Georgia, published by the sheriff's office. Families use it to confirm where someone is held before arranging visits or calls. Holds for other agencies are flagged, which is why some names linger after local charges resolve.
Contact Us - Lanier County Sheriff's Office, Lakeland Georgia
Official Free
Lanier County Sheriff's Office — official department page (booking, jail, wanted).
Gwinnett County - Recorder's Court - eCourt
Official Free
Recorded land documents for Georgia — deeds, mortgages, and liens. Military discharge records (DD-214s) are held here as well but stay restricted by law. Older instruments live in bound books at the office; staff pull what the online index doesn't reach.
South Georgia Judicial Circuit
Official Free
The Court Itinerary pages are listed on this page in PDF format. You may view and/or download monthly calendars and county calendars.
Dawson Co Detention Center, GA
Official Free
Mobile Site · If you have reason to believe any information contained here is inaccurate, please contact the facility.
Find an Offender | Georgia Department of Corrections
Official Free
Welcome to The Georgia Department of Corrections official website including information on offenders, prison, probation, and incarceration facilities, resources for victims, and general public information about Georgia Corrections operations.
dadecounty-ga.gov
Official Free
The Johnson County Criminal Records Search (Georgia) links below open in a new window and take you to third party websites that provide access to Johnson County public records. Editors frequently monitor and verify these resources on a routine basis. Help others by sharing new links and reporting broken links. Johnson County Arrest Warrants https://georgia.gov/popular-topic/warrants Search Johnson County, Georgia arrest warrants by name, including mugshots, DOB, warrant number and charges.
state of georgia
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Athens-Clarke County Clerk of Court Welcome to the online home of Athens-Clarke County Georgia Clerk of Courts. These pages contain information that will guide you through many services performed by the Clerk of Court's office.
Clarke County Sheriff's Office | Athens-Clarke County, GA - Official Website
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Legal Mail Inmate Name/Inmate Number Clarke County Jail 3015 Lexington Rd Athens, Ga 30605
Inmate Inquiry | Richmond County Sheriff's Office | Augusta Ga - Richmond County Sheriff's Office
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The City of Augusta and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office provide access to current inmate information as a service to the general public. Every effort is made to keep the information provided through this Online Inmate Inquiry application accurate and up-to-date.
https://www.cowetastatecourt.com/default.aspx
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https://www.cowetastatecourt.com/default.aspx — www.cowetastatecourt.com.
Case Number Style of Case IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF DADE COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA
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Court case information for Georgia. Attorneys of record appear on the docket, useful when you need to contact a party. Juvenile, adoption, and sealed matters are excluded by rule everywhere.
Courts – Fayette County, GA
Official Free
land and property records of the county as well as the civil and criminal files and records in the courts served
CM Web Search
Official Free
Court case information for Georgia. Hearing calendars on the same system show what is coming up, not just what happened. Civil, criminal, probate, and traffic divisions may index separately — check each if a search runs dry.
News - Madison County Clerk of Court
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Court case information for Georgia. Coverage is deepest for recent decades and thins out further back — check the stated start dates. For copies the site doesn't display, the clerk fills requests at a per-page rate.
An error has occurred
Official Free
An error has occurred processing your request. Please confirm that you are using the correct web address.
Jail Records
Official Free
Current inmate roster for Georgia, published by the sheriff's office. The list refreshes as people are booked and released, so it shows who is actually in custody right now.
Crime Statistics | Atlanta Police Department
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Crime Data Downloads This area contains our weekly crime reports our commanders use to best deploy our officers to combat crime. It also contains a raw crime data dump that is updated weekly.
Official source — benchmark.atlantaga.gov
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Official public records resource for Georgia. Requests route faster when they cite exactly what this office says it holds. Hours, fees, and request forms live here and stay current.
Chatham County, GA - Court System - Superior Court Clerk Criminal Intake Division
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This is the court-records channel for Chatham County: case searches and docket details. If a link breaks, the office homepage at superiorcourtclerk.chathamcountyga.gov carries the new path.
Document: O.C.G.A. § 42-1-15 O.C.G.A. § 42-1-15
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Official public records resource for Georgia. Government sites reorganize often; if a link breaks, the office's homepage will carry the new path. Public-records law applies here: what they hold, you can generally request.
BOP: Federal Bureau of Prisons Web Site
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Official public records resource for California. Hours, fees, and request forms live here and stay current. The information comes straight from the office that creates the record, not a reseller.
🌐 bop.gov
Public Access to Court Electronic Records | PACER: Federal Court Records
Official Paid
Log in to the federal Judiciary’s electronic public access services. Close PACER Case Locator PACER Log in Manage PACER Account
Georgia Counties
159 Georgia counties are indexed on SearchSystems.net — top 28 counties shown below. Browse the full directory or click any county for local court, sheriff, recorder and assessor links.
Which Georgia counties publish jail rosters and sheriff records online
47 of Georgia's 161 counties run their own online source for jail rosters and sheriff records, based on what this directory indexes. Every other county is covered by the statewide systems listed above — click a county for its full records page.
Atkinson Augusta Richmond Barrow Bibb Camden Catoosa Chatham Cherokee Clay Clayton Cobb Coffee Crawford Dade Dawson DeKalb Dodge Douglas Effingham Elbert Floyd Glascock Gwinnett Hall Harris Hart Henry Houston Jackson Jefferson Lanier Long Lowndes Macon Marion Monroe Morgan Paulding Polk Richmond Rockdale Taylor Union Walton Warren Webster White
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I run an official Georgia background check?▼
Georgia's official statewide criminal-history check is administered by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC. Begin the request at gbi.georgia.gov. Most state-level checks require submitting fingerprints (live-scan or ink) plus a processing fee, and the response covers convictions and certain non-conviction data permitted by Georgia statute.
Are Georgia criminal records public?▼
Most adult criminal-history information in Georgia is considered public record, but access is restricted depending on the requester (self, employer, government agency) and the data type (arrest, conviction, sealed, juvenile). The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC explains who can request what at gbi.georgia.gov. County-court records are also public and searchable through the trial-court system.
What's the difference between a state and an FBI background check in Georgia?▼
A state check from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC (gbi.georgia.gov) covers only criminal activity within Georgia. An FBI Identity History Summary (fbi.gov) is the nationwide check covering federal records and contributing states. Employers and licensing boards often require both.
Can I get someone else's Georgia criminal record?▼
Generally, no — only the record subject (with their own ID and signature) or a specifically authorized requester (such as a credentialed employer under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a licensing board, or law enforcement) can pull a third-party criminal history from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC documentation at gbi.georgia.gov lists each authorized requester category.
How do I challenge or correct a Georgia criminal record?▼
If you find an error on your Georgia criminal history, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - GCIC offers a record-review and challenge process. Begin at gbi.georgia.gov — typical steps include fingerprint verification, a written dispute, and supporting court documents (such as a dismissal or expungement order) for each contested entry.