Clayton County 72 Hour Booking
Clayton County 72 hour booking records are held by the Clayton County Sheriff's Office in Jonesboro. If you need to search for a recent arrest or check if someone is in jail, the county has an online inmate search tool that pulls up booking data fast. You can look up people booked in the past 48 hours, 14 days, or 31 days. Clayton County sits just south of Atlanta, and the sheriff's office processes all arrests made by local law enforcement in the county. Search results show the booking date, charges, and bond info for each person held at the Clayton County Jail.
Clayton County Quick Facts
Clayton County Sheriff 72 Hour Booking Records
Sheriff Levon Allen runs the Clayton County Sheriff's Office. The main office is at 9157 Tara Blvd, Jonesboro, GA 30236. You can reach them at 770-477-4469. The sheriff's office handles all bookings for the county. When a person gets arrested anywhere in Clayton County, they are brought to the jail and booked in. The booking process creates a record that includes their name, charges, booking date, and bond amount. These records are public.
The Clayton County inmate search page lets you look up who has been booked into the jail. You can search for people by their booking date. The tool gives you three time ranges to pick from: the past 48 hours, the past 14 days, or the past 31 days. This makes it simple to find someone who was just arrested in Clayton County. Each search result shows the person's name, what they were charged with, and their bond info. The system updates as the jail processes new arrests, so the most recent bookings will show up within a few hours of the arrest taking place in Clayton County.
The Clayton County Sheriff's homepage has links to the inmate search and other jail services.
Booking records in Clayton County are public under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, the Georgia Open Records Act. Anyone can look them up. You do not need to be related to the person or give a reason for your search. The law says government agencies must provide records to anyone who asks, and booking data falls under that rule.
How to Search Clayton County Bookings
The best way to find a recent booking in Clayton County is through the online tool. Go to the inmate search page and pick a date range. The 48 hour option works well if the arrest just happened. The 14 day and 31 day ranges let you cast a wider net. Results list each person booked during that window.
If you need older records or more detail than what shows up online, call the Clayton County Sheriff's Office at 770-477-4469. Staff can look up past bookings and give you info over the phone. You can also go in person to the office at 9157 Tara Blvd in Jonesboro. For a formal records request, the county may ask you to fill out a form. Under Georgia law, agencies can charge a fee for copies, but they cannot deny you access to booking records in Clayton County. The fee is usually small and covers the cost of printing.
Note: New bookings in Clayton County may take a few hours to appear in the online system after the arrest occurs.
Clayton County Arrest Time Rules
Georgia law puts a clock on how fast someone must see a judge after they are arrested. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26, a person arrested on a warrant must go before a judicial officer within 72 hours. That is where the name "72 hour booking" comes from. The court has to hold this hearing even if it falls on a weekend. In Clayton County, the Magistrate Court handles these first appearances. The judge reviews the charges, sets bond if the person qualifies, and makes sure the arrest was done right.
Warrantless arrests have a shorter window. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-62 says the person must get a hearing within 48 hours. This applies when an officer in Clayton County arrests someone on the spot for something they saw happen. If the hearing does not take place in time, the person can ask to be released. Both the 72 hour and 48 hour rules are strict, and Clayton County courts follow them closely.
The booking record itself gets created right when the person arrives at the jail. It tracks the arrest time, so anyone checking can see if the 72 hour or 48 hour clock is still running on a case in Clayton County.
Booking Photos in Clayton County
When someone is booked into the Clayton County Jail, a photo is taken as part of the process. O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 controls how law enforcement can share these booking photos. The law says an agency cannot give a booking photo to a person or website that charges money to take the photo down. This rule was made to stop certain sites from profiting off arrest records.
You can still get a booking photo through an open records request in Clayton County. The sheriff's office will review the request and decide if it fits within the law. The photo is part of the public record, so in most cases they will provide it. The online inmate search may or may not show photos depending on the system setup at the time you search. If you need a specific booking photo from Clayton County, calling the sheriff's office at 770-477-4469 is the most direct route.
Note: Clayton County booking photos are public records, but the law limits how third parties can use them for profit.
Clayton County Sheriff Online Resources
The Clayton County Sheriff's website is the main hub for jail and booking info. Beyond the inmate search, the site has details on visitation, how to post bond, and how to contact the jail. The sheriff's office also posts alerts and news that may relate to recent arrests in the area.
If you need to track a person after they leave the Clayton County Jail, the Georgia Department of Corrections offender search can help. This tool shows anyone who was sentenced to state prison. It lists their current location, sentence length, and expected release date. The search is free and covers all of Georgia, not just Clayton County.
The VINE notification system is another good tool for Clayton County. It lets you sign up for alerts when an inmate's status changes. You can get a call, text, or email if someone gets released, transferred, or has a court date coming up. The VINE phone line is (877) 994-8463. This service is free and works with Clayton County and most other counties in the state. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association lists contact info for all Georgia sheriff's offices if you need to check jails in other counties too.
Cities in Clayton County
Clayton County has several cities and towns. All arrests in these areas are processed through the Clayton County Jail. The county seat is Jonesboro, which is where the main sheriff's office is located. Other communities like Morrow, Forest Park, Riverdale, and Lake City are also part of Clayton County. Arrests in any of these places result in a Clayton County booking record.
Nearby Counties
These counties border Clayton County. If you are not sure which county handled a booking, check the arrest location. The south Atlanta metro area has a lot of overlapping city and county lines, so an arrest near a border could end up in a neighboring county's jail instead.