Access Evans County 72 Hour Booking Records

Evans County 72 hour booking records are held by the Evans County Sheriff's Office in Claxton. This small southeast Georgia county runs one jail facility and does not offer an online inmate search. Call or visit the office to check on recent bookings.

Evans County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Mac Edwards runs the Evans County Sheriff's Office. The mailing address is PO Box 425, Claxton, GA 30417. Call 912-739-1611 for all booking and jail questions. This is the main number. Staff can tell you if someone is in the jail, what they were charged with, and what bond has been set. Evans County is small, so the jail sees fewer bookings than the bigger counties, but the process is the same.

Evans County does not have a public online inmate search. There is no website or database where you can look up bookings from home. That is the case for most small counties in southeast Georgia. The phone is your best tool. During the day, you can reach jail staff who handle the records. After hours, dispatch answers and can help with basic custody questions.

You can also go to the sheriff's office in Claxton. Walk-in visits during business hours let you ask about bookings face to face. Bring the person's full name and date of birth if you have it. Staff will check the records and tell you what they can share. All arrests in Evans County go through this one jail. That includes arrests by the sheriff's deputies, the Claxton Police Department, the Hagan Police, and the Georgia State Patrol.

Evans County is part of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit. This is the same circuit that covers Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, and Tattnall counties. Court cases from Evans County bookings go through the Superior Court at the courthouse in Claxton.

How 72 Hour Booking Works in Evans County

Georgia law puts a time limit on how long someone can be held before seeing a judge. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26 says a person arrested with a warrant must appear before a judge within 72 hours. This first appearance hearing is where the judge reads the charges and sets bond. The clock starts at the moment of arrest.

Warrantless arrests have a tighter rule. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-62 requires a hearing within 48 hours when someone is arrested without a warrant. This comes up when an officer or deputy makes an arrest on the spot. A traffic stop, a call about a disturbance, or catching someone in the act of a crime can all lead to a warrantless arrest. In Evans County, the booking still happens at the same jail. The 48 hour hearing just has to come sooner.

Hearings for Evans County cases take place at the courthouse in Claxton. The Atlantic Judicial Circuit assigns judges to cover the area. Because Evans County is not a large county, hearings may be held on certain days of the week rather than daily. The 72 hour and 48 hour rules still apply regardless of the schedule. If the court does not hold the hearing in time, the person has a right to ask for release.

Bond is usually set at the first hearing. Some charges in Georgia carry a bond schedule that lets someone post bond before the hearing. The jail staff at 912-739-1611 can tell you if bond has been set and what the amount is.

Evans County 72 Hour Booking Records and Public Access

All booking records in Evans County are public. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, the Georgia Open Records Act, gives anyone the right to request these records. You do not need a reason. The sheriff's office must respond within three business days of getting your request.

You can request records by phone, by mail, or in person. Call the sheriff at 912-739-1611 for basic info. For formal requests, write to PO Box 425, Claxton, GA 30417. Include the person's full name and the arrest date if known. A small copy fee may apply for paper records. Simple questions, like whether someone is in custody and what the charges are, can usually be answered over the phone with no paperwork.

O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 covers booking photos. This law bars the sheriff's office from giving a booking photo to someone who will post it on a site or in print that charges a fee for removal. Outside of that, the photo is a public record. You can get a copy through an open records request.

The Georgia Department of Corrections has a free search tool for people who have been sent to state prison after a conviction.

The GDC offender search shows facility, sentence, and release dates. It only covers people in state prison, not those still in the Evans County jail.

State Resources for Evans County Arrests

Several state tools can help with Evans County booking searches. The Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) at the GBI runs criminal history checks. Call 404-244-2639. A GCIC check pulls up arrests and convictions from across the whole state. It costs money and takes time, but it is the most thorough way to check someone's full record.

The VINE notification system is a free tool that tracks inmates. Register for alerts and you will get a call, text, or email when someone is released, moved, or has a court date. The VINE phone line is 833-216-6670. It works for Evans County and most other counties in Georgia. If you need to know the second someone gets released from the Evans County jail, VINE handles that for you.

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association keeps a directory of every sheriff's office in the state. This is handy if your search goes beyond Evans County. You can find contact info for any county in Georgia in one place.

Between the Evans County Sheriff, VINE, GCIC, and the GDC search, you have a full set of tools to track an arrest from the 72 hour booking through to final outcome.

Evans County 72 Hour Booking Record Restriction

Georgia allows record restriction under certain conditions. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 covers this. If charges were dismissed, not prosecuted, or the person was acquitted, they can apply to have the record restricted. A restricted record will not show up on standard background checks. It is still in the system but hidden from most public access.

O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, the First Offender Act, gives another path. A judge can sentence someone as a first offender if they have no prior felony convictions. Once the sentence is done without any issues, the conviction gets sealed. An Evans County booking that ended in a first offender sentence may not show on a basic search later. This only applies to first-time felony offenders.

To apply for restriction in Evans County, you go through the court that handled the case. The clerk of court in Claxton can help get you started. There are forms to fill out and fees to pay. It takes several weeks for the restriction to appear across all state databases. Law enforcement retains full access to restricted records, even after the restriction is in place.

Nearby Counties

These counties sit next to Evans County. If you are not sure which county handled a booking, check the location of the arrest. Evans County is in southeast Georgia, and the borders between these rural counties can be easy to miss.