Tift County Arrest Records

In Tift County, law enforcement officers are required to make arrests under a variety of circumstances, including when an officer witnesses a crime, receives a credible tip about an ongoing criminal activity, observes behavior that strongly indicates unlawful conduct, encounters a suspect with an outstanding warrant, and when thorough investigation provides probable cause to believe that a specific suspect is responsible for a crime. Arrestable offenses range from serious crimes like arson, homicide, and burglary to property theft and drug-related crimes.

It is important to note that an arrest does not equate to conviction, and arrestees are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Convicted individuals typically serve their sentences in the Tift County jail.

Arrest records typically do not provide end-to-end documentation on all criminal cases. For instance, they do not indicate whether a person was convicted of the alleged crime. One may need to consult the Tift County Court Records to determine if a suspect was convicted. Collectively, these records provide a comprehensive overview of criminal cases in Tift County.

Are Arrest Records Public in Tift County?

According to the state’s Open Records Act, arrest and initial incident reports are public documents. This means that members of the public have the right to inspect, copy, and reproduce these records upon request. Nevertheless, law enforcement agencies may deny access to those records specifically exempted from disclosure by a court order. Furthermore, booking photographs have a set of regulations governing their release and may only be reviewed in accordance with Code Section 35-1-18.

Tift County Arrest Statistics

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Data, the following number of violent offenses were reported by the Sheriff’s Office or County police department in 2018. There were 0 cases of murder, 6 cases of rape, nine robbery cases, 30 aggravated assault cases, and 117 property crimes, including 305 burglaries, larceny was recorded at 41, 4 motor vehicle theft, zero arson, and 45 violent crimes.

Find Tift County Arrest Records

The following resources and procedures may help simplify the process of inmate search:

The Tift County Sheriff’s Office website: Inquirers can pull up information on individuals incarcerated in the Tift County Jail through this website. To do this:

• Visit the Sheriff’s Office webpage.
• Click on “Current Inmate List”.
• On the follow-up page, scroll through the inmate roster to locate the desired inmate.
• Alternatively, navigate to the top of the page to search more specifically using their name.
• The search result will display a list of matching detainees. Click on the appropriate name to view detailed information.

At the state level, the Department of Corrections Find an Offender tool provides access to records of inmates in state custody. To see who is in jail, follow these steps:

• Visit the Department of Corrections website;
• Click on “Offender Search;”
• On the offender search page, navigate to “Find an Offender” and click on “SEARCH NOW;”
• On the follow-up page, find an offender by name or description by filling out the appropriate fields on the electronic form;
• Proceed to drop down the button below the form to select the jail of incarceration;
• Finally, click the “Submit Form” button to query the database;

At the Federal level, the Bureau of Prisons Inmates Locator tool offers convenience to individuals who wish to find records of inmates incarcerated in federal custody. Interested individuals must provide sufficient information to identify the case they wish to find. This information includes the inmates' first and last names and other relevant information that may be required.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Unless expunged, almost all arrests and convictions stay on a person’s record for life. Expungement is a legal remedy that allows former arrestees to erase all information related to their arrest from the state’s database. In Tift County, state expungement laws do not permit the complete removal or erasure of these records but rather restrict access to them.

Under the Record Restriction law (O. C. G. A. § 35–3–37), access to records of arrest will be restricted if:

• The individual was released without prosecution.
• Charges were referred to a prosecuting attorney but later dismissed, with no accusation or indictment filed.
• The individual has not been convicted of the same or a similar offense under state or federal law within the past five years.
• The individual has no other pending criminal charges.

Restricted arrest records may include photographs and fingerprints associated with the arrest.

Individuals charged with felony offenses may request restricted access within four years of the arrest if:

• The felony charge was dismissed.
• They were found “not guilty” of the felony but convicted of a misdemeanor offense.
• The misdemeanor conviction was not for a lesser offense included in the felony charge.

Tift County Arrest Warrants

An arrest warrant is a court-issued document that permits a law enforcement agency to apprehend and detain a suspect. Law enforcement typically needs one to apprehend suspects of crimes not witnessed by them but where subsequent investigation provides probable cause to believe a specific individual is responsible for the crime.

To obtain an arrest warrant, a law enforcement agency usually approaches a judge to present evidence that the suspect most likely committed the offense. The person whose arrest is sought must be notified of the application. In response, the judge may cross-examine the persons applying for the warrant and any other witnesses testifying in support of the application at the hearing. The judge may also present evidence that probable cause does not exist to warrant their arrest.

If the judge or other officer finds that probable cause exists, the warrant may be issued immediately. An arrest warrant usually contains this information:

• The name of the person to be arrested
• The name of the arresting agency
• The description of the crime
• The signature of the judge

Arrest warrant application is not limited to law enforcement agencies. Rather, third parties can also request an arrest warrant. The judge may honor the request under these circumstances:

• There is an immediate or continuing threat to the safety or well-being of the affiant or a third party;
• The person whose arrest is sought will attempt to evade arrest or otherwise obstruct justice if notice is given;
• The person whose arrest is sought is a fugitive from justice;
• The offense for which application for a warrant is made is deposit account fraud, and the person whose arrest is sought has previously been served with the ten-day notice.
• The offense for which the application for the warrant is made consists of an act of family violence.

Do Tift County Arrest Warrants Expire?

Once issued, arrest warrants do not expire and typically remain active until the individual named in the record has been apprehended. However, a judge may refuse to issue an arrest warrant in the first place if the person sought to be arrested was not notified of the hearing associated with the warrant.