Chatham County 72 Hour Booking Records

Chatham County 72 hour booking records are posted on the sheriff's department website, and they are one of the easiest to search in all of Georgia. The Chatham County Sheriff's Department gives you two views: a 24 hour booking list and a 72 hour booking list. Both show the same data fields, just for different time ranges. You can search for anyone booked into the Chatham County jail in Savannah by name, and each record shows charges, bond amount, arrest date, and the agency that made the arrest. These records are public and free to look up at any time.

Chatham County 72 Hour Booking Search

The Chatham County 72 hour bookings page is the main tool for finding recent arrest records. It lists every person booked into the Chatham County jail over the past three days. Each entry shows the DIN (detention ID number), full name, birth date, race, sex, arrest date, arrest number, the arresting agency, bond amount, and all charges. This page updates as new bookings come in. You do not need to create an account or pay a fee to use it.

The sheriff's department makes it clear that this booking data comes without any guarantees. The site states the information is provided "without warranties, expressed or implied, concerning its accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability." That said, it is the most current source for Chatham County booking records and matches what you would get if you called the jail in person. Charge codes show up in shorthand, like 16-5-23.1(2) for battery with family violence or 16-5-70 for cruelty to children in the third degree. If you need help reading a charge code, the clerk at the jail can explain what it means.

The 72 hour booking page from the Chatham County Sheriff's Department shows all recent arrests.

Booking data is public in Georgia under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, the Open Records Act. Anyone can access these records. You do not need a reason to look them up in Chatham County or anywhere else in the state.

Note: Charge codes on the Chatham County booking page refer to Georgia Code sections and can be looked up for full descriptions.

Chatham County 24 Hour Booking List

If you only want to see the most recent arrests, the Chatham County 24 hour bookings page is a faster way to check. It shows the same fields as the 72 hour page but only covers the last day. This is useful when you know an arrest happened very recently and you want to see if the booking record is up yet. The data on this page matches the 72 hour list. It is just a shorter window.

The 24 hour booking page on the Chatham County sheriff's site narrows results to just the past day.

Both the 24 hour and 72 hour pages list the arresting agency on each record. In Chatham County, this could be the Savannah Police Department, the Chatham County Sheriff, the Pooler Police, or other local agencies. The booking itself is always done by the sheriff's department at the county jail, but the agency field tells you who made the arrest in the first place.

Chatham County Jail and Booking Contact

The Chatham County jail is at 1050 Carl Griffin Drive, Savannah, GA 31405. Sheriff Richard Coleman leads the department. The main phone is 912-652-7600, and you can also reach the sheriff's office by mail at PO Box 10026, Savannah, GA 31412. If you have a question about a specific booking or inmate, call the jail directly. Staff can look up booking records by name or arrest number.

The Chatham County Sheriff contact page has all the department phone lines and email addresses.

For general questions about the department, the Chatham County Sheriff's homepage has links to corrections, civil, and court services. All of these connect back to the booking and jail system in some way. The corrections section is where you will find the 72 hour and 24 hour booking lists along with other inmate services.

Chatham County Arrest Time Limits

Georgia law controls how long someone can sit in jail before seeing a judge. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26, a person arrested on a warrant must appear before a judicial officer within 72 hours. That is where the "72 hour booking" term comes from. The Chatham County booking page uses this same time frame to show the most recent arrests. If the 72 hours pass without a hearing, the person can ask for release, though weekends and holidays sometimes shift the schedule in practice.

For warrantless arrests, the time limit is shorter. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-62 requires a hearing within 48 hours. This applies to any arrest in Chatham County where an officer made the decision on the spot, without a judge signing off first. The 48 hour rule covers things like on-scene arrests for fights, traffic offenses, and other incidents where the officer had probable cause to act right away. Both rules apply to every person booked into the Chatham County jail, no matter which agency made the arrest.

Booking Photos and Chatham County Records

Booking photos are a sensitive topic in Georgia, and Chatham County follows state law on how they are shared. O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19, which was strengthened by House Bill 845, puts limits on who can get a booking photo. The law says an arresting agency cannot hand over a booking photo if the person asking plans to post it on a website or in a publication that charges a fee to take the photo down. The Chatham County Sheriff's Department posts this notice on their site: "An arresting law enforcement agency shall not provide or make available a copy of a booking photograph in any format to a person requesting such photograph if: (1) Such booking photograph may be placed in a publication or posted to a website; and (2) Removal or deletion of such booking photograph from such publication or website requires the payment of a fee or other consideration."

This does not mean booking photos are secret. They are still part of the public record. You can request one through a formal open records request under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72. The sheriff's office will review the request to make sure it falls within the rules. For most people looking up Chatham County booking records, the text data on the 72 hour page is enough to confirm an arrest without needing the photo.

Note: The booking photo law applies to all law enforcement agencies in Georgia, not just Chatham County.

Statewide Booking and Inmate Search

Two statewide tools can help if you are not sure whether a person is still in Chatham County custody. The Georgia Department of Corrections offender search covers anyone who has been sent to state prison after conviction. If a booking in Chatham County led to a prison sentence, the person's record will show up in that system instead. It is free to use and shows current location, sentence length, and possible release date.

The VINE notification system lets you sign up for alerts when an inmate's status changes. You can track a Chatham County booking and get a call, text, or email when the person is released, moved, or has a hearing. VINE is free and covers most jails in Georgia. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association directory can also help you find contact info for any county sheriff's office if your search takes you beyond Chatham County.

The Chatham County Sheriff homepage links to all of the department's online tools and services.

Between the local booking pages and the state tools, you can follow an arrest in Chatham County from the first 72 hours all the way through the court process and beyond.

Cities in Chatham County

Chatham County includes Savannah and several smaller cities. All arrests in the county are booked through the Chatham County jail in Savannah. The booking record will show the arresting agency, which may be the Savannah Police, Pooler Police, or another local department. The jail itself is run by the Chatham County Sheriff's Department.

Other places in Chatham County include Bloomingdale, Garden City, Tybee Island, Port Wentworth, and Thunderbolt. Arrests in those areas are also booked through the Chatham County jail system.

Nearby Counties

These counties are next to Chatham County on the Georgia coast and inland. If an arrest happened near a county line, it may have been booked in a different county. Check the arresting agency and booking location to be sure.