Fayette County Arrest Records

An arrest occurs when a police officer detains an individual with the aim of preventing or investigating a crime. Arrests may be executed with or without a warrant and in the event of an arrest, the police are required to tell the arrested person why they are being arrested.

If a person is arrested in Fayette County, they are typically housed in the Fayette County Jail. The Fayette County jail is a pre-trial detention center where suspects that cannot bond out are held until their court dates. Sometimes, criminals that are sentenced to serve 12 or more months in prison are housed in the Fayette County jail until space is available at State facilities. Fayette County jail has 554 inmate capacity.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s office’s main duties are law enforcement, executing the orders of the courts and the county jail. The Sheriff’s office is also responsible for processing arrest records for every suspect booked into the inmate receiving center. They have a responsibility to make this information available to the public.

To access Fayette County arrest records, contact the Sheriff’s Office at:

155 Johnson Ave, Fayetteville,
GA 30214, United States
Phone: (770) 716-6563
Fax: (770) 716-4887

You may also contact the Jail Facility at:

145 Johnson Ave, Fayetteville,
GA 30214
Phone: (770) 716-4720

Another option is to contact the Fayette County Clerk’s Office to inquire about their process for accessing arrest records. The County Clerk’s Office maintains a database of relevant Fayette County Court Records, including arrest records. You may contact the County Clerk’s Office at:

Address: One Center Drive, Fayetteville,
GA 30214, United States
Phone: (770) 716-4290
Fax: (770) 716-4868
Mailing Address: P.O.Box 130 Fayetteville, GA 30214
Website

Are Arrest Records Public in Fayette County?

According to Georgia’s Open Records Act (OCA), arrest records are accessible to the general public. Arrest records are considered public information in Fayette County. Residents have the right to access, scrutinize, and copy these records. This right is also given to non-residents of Fayette or Georgia, as residency is not a requirement. This is done to ensure transparency concerning incarcerated individuals within the county.

That said, there are instances where arrest records may be restricted from the public. Such as situations where:

• The information included in the records may endanger a person (such as personal information about a witness, victim, or informant)
• The information in an arrest record may affect the outcome of an investigative process or the prosecution of a case
• The information in an arrest record may endanger a juvenile person
• The information in an arrest record includes sensitive data such as a person’s medical or mental health information
• The information in an arrest record may be used to discriminate against a person

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Fayette arrest records are considered public information. They generally contain the following data:

• The full name, age, gender, address, physical description, and photo of the arrested person
• Charges filed against the suspect
• The date, time, and location of the arrest
• The law enforcement agency that made the arrest
• The jail facility where the arrested person is detained

Fayette County Crime Rate

Fayette County has a violent crime rate of 12, which is considerably low compared to the national average of 22.7. Property crime, however, is at 30.4 which is close to the national average of 35.4.

In 2019, 29 arrests were made in response to violent crimes. Of these, seven were for rape, 14 were for robbery, and eight were for aggravated assault. Arrests for property crime in the same year totaled 467. Of these, 30 were for burglary, 410 were for theft, and 27 were for motor vehicle theft.

Fayette County Arrest Statistics

In 2015, 1,158 people were arrested in Fayette County. Of those arrested, only 25.6% reside in Fayette County, and the rest are visitors who reside in neighboring counties. Fourteen thousand three hundred sixty arrests were made between 2013-2021. More than 86% of these arrests were for low-level offenses, 16% were for drug possession, while violent crime made up 2% of the total arrests made. The average daily population for the Fayette County jail is 240, with 55% of this being people who are yet to be convicted.

Find Fayette County Arrest Records

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office Records Section is responsible for maintaining the county’s database of arrest records. To learn more about accessing Fayette County arrest records, contact the Sheriff’s Office Records Section at:

Phone: (770) 716-4790

You may also utilize the Fayette Sheriff’s Office Inmate Lookup Tool on their website. This allows you to find inmates currently incarcerated in the Fayette County Jail by entering their full name and other details, such as their booking date.

The Fayette County Clerk of Court’s website also includes information on how to access Fayette County arrest records.

The Fayette County Open Records Request website also allows people to request public records relevant to the county, including arrest records.

Free Arrest Record Search in Fayette County

• The Premium Public Records Search website is a free resource that allows you to search up public records relevant to counties within Georgia. Although you may need to pay a fee to have the arrest record copied and mailed to you.
• The Georgia Public Offices website allows people to look up arrest records for free.
• The Fayette County Free Public Records Directory allows you to search for arrest records and inmate records by their full name or case number.

Get Fayette County Criminal Records

Criminal records are documents that detail a person’s interactions with law enforcement and courts. Information related to a person’s arrests, convictions and sentences may be found in a criminal record. Other data such as the relevant person’s biodata (name, date of birth, physical description, social security numbers etc.), arrest data, prosecutor information, prison term and release date, judicial disposition etc. are also included in a criminal record.

Criminal records are made accessible to the general public with the intention of safeguarding the community, enabling establishments to recruit trustworthy individuals and homeowners to rent their properties to honorable persons.

Those interested in looking up criminal records in Fayette County will first have to ensure that they are eligible for a criminal history request. Criminal history requests are processed for the following reasons:

• Employment
• Personal reasons
• Volunteering for churches, non-profit organizations and recreational departments

To make a Fayette criminal history request, the requestor must be a Fayette County resident. The requestor is required to fill out and sign a consent form. The requestor must be above the age of 17 and must present valid identification.

Criminal history requests are free for volunteering purposes; other requestors are required to pay a $20 fee.

To make a criminal history request, you are encouraged to visit the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office at:

155 Johnson Ave, Fayetteville,
GA 30214, United States
Phone: (770) 461-6353
Fax: (770) 716-4887

Fayette County Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

Arrest records are documents that detail information related to a person’s arrest. They indicate that a person was at one point arrested and taken into police custody. Criminal records, however, go further than the initial interaction between the suspect and the law. They contain information that details every contact a person has had with the law, including arrests, court dates, and sentences.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

According to Georgia law, if a person is arrested but not charged with a crime, the record will be automatically restricted after:

• 2 years for a misdemeanor
• 4 years for felonies
• Seven years for violent or sex-related felonies

In other cases, arrests remain on a person’s record permanently unless expunged or sealed.

Expunge Fayette County Arrest Records

Arrest records show up on a person’s background check, even in cases where they don’t lead to convictions. This could be detrimental to a person’s life and may prevent them from being able to participate fully within a community. Activities like job hunting and house hunting may also be affected by an arrest record.

Fortunately, many people have been able to restrict their arrest records from public access, thereby nullifying any potential harm that could come from such records. This typically occurs through a process known as expungement. Expunging an arrest record involves the restriction of that record from public access and in some cases, the complete destruction of such records.

In Georgia, expungement laws do not permit the complete removal or erasure of arrest records; rather, the records are restricted from public access and remain accessible to courts and law enforcement. If eligible for expungement, a person may begin the process by filing a petition to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office Records Section to have their arrest record restricted.

It is important to note that offenses such as theft, driving under the influence of alcohol, crimes of a sexual nature, vehicular homicide, etc., will not be expunged. To confirm that your arrest record is eligible for expungement, it is advisable to reach out to a criminal attorney.

The Records Section will require an initial fee and application to begin the expungement process. If the arrest occurred before July 1, 2013, you are required to apply for restriction at the arresting agency. If the arrest occurred after July 1, 2013, there is no application process, instead the application must have been approved at the time of sentencing. If this occurs then it would be noted in the sentencing documentation forwarded to the court.

If the application is approved, the applicant will be required to pay a total fee of $50. This will be paid to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office in cash, business checks, certified checks, and money orders made payable to the Sheriff’s office. Personal checks are considered inappropriate.

If the petition is approved by the prosecutor, the application will be mailed to the applicant. After which, the applicant will be required to forward the approved request to the Georgia Crime Information Center.

Fayette County Arrest Warrants

Arrest warrants are issued by a judge when a crime is committed with the aim of authorizing the police to bring a suspect into custody. Warrants identify the crime that has been committed and detail the manner in which the suspect should be arrested. In some cases, the warrant may state that the suspect may only be arrested at certain times during the day or at night. Some warrants also mention the bail that must be posted by the defendant after they’ve been arrested in order for them to regain their freedom.

To obtain a warrant, a police officer must appear before a judge and present probable cause that a person has committed a crime, along with a sworn statement from the officer, an attorney, or a victim.

Fayette County Arrest Warrant Search

To begin your Fayette County warrant search, contact the County Sheriff. The Sheriff doesn’t have a search tool on his website, so you’ll have to submit an open record request. You may do this by using fax:

(770) 716-4871

Or using email: ccowart@fayettecountyga.gov

Do Fayette County Arrest Warrants Expire?

Arrest warrants in Fayette County do not expire until the suspect has been arrested and the warrant is cleared. If the suspect remains at large, the arrest warrant will stay active indefinitely. This is done so that suspects may be brought into custody when they are eventually found. Otherwise, suspects will be able to wait out the duration of an arrest warrant in order to evade arrest.

However, in some cases, a warrant may be dismissed. A common situation where this happens is when the suspect’s right to a speedy trial is violated. The suspect also has the option of filing a motion to quash the arrest warrant and render it invalid. This works in cases where a significant amount of time has passed since the warrant was issued, as well as cases where the warrant is proven to be deficient.