Search Fannin County 72 Hour Booking Records

Fannin County 72 hour booking records are kept by the Fannin County Sheriff's Office in Blue Ridge. This mountain county in the far north of Georgia runs one jail and does not offer a public online inmate search. You will need to call the office or visit in person to get booking info.

Fannin County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Dane Kirby runs the Fannin County Sheriff's Office at 645 W First St, Blue Ridge, GA 30513. Call 706-632-2044 for booking and jail questions. This is the one and only jail in Fannin County. All arrests in the county come through here, whether by a deputy, the Blue Ridge Police Department, the McCaysville Police, or the Georgia State Patrol.

Fannin County does not provide an online inmate lookup tool. There is no jail roster on a website, no database you can search from home. That is typical for the mountain counties in north Georgia. The phone is how you get booking info. Call during business hours and ask for the jail desk. Staff can tell you if someone is in custody, the charges against them, and the bond amount. After hours, dispatch can help with the basics.

You can also go to the office in Blue Ridge. Walk-ins during normal hours are welcome. Bring the full name and, if you have it, the date of birth of the person you want to look up. The staff at the Fannin County jail handle these requests regularly. Booking records are public, so they cannot refuse a basic request for arrest and charge info.

Fannin County sits in the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit. This circuit also covers Appalachian Judicial Circuit neighbors. Court cases from bookings in Fannin County go to the Superior Court at the courthouse in Blue Ridge. The area sees a mix of local arrests and incidents tied to the heavy tourist traffic that comes through the mountains, especially in fall. Seasonal crowds can push booking numbers up during busy weekends.

72 Hour Booking Rules in Fannin County

Georgia law sets a firm window for how long someone can be held before seeing a judge. Under O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26, a warrant arrest requires a first appearance hearing within 72 hours. The judge reads the charges, checks that the arrest was legal, and sets bond. This is the basis for the term "72 hour booking." The clock starts when the arrest happens, not when the person arrives at the Fannin County jail.

Arrests made without a warrant follow O.C.G.A. § 17-4-62, which calls for a hearing within 48 hours. Deputies and police officers who arrest someone on the spot, like during a traffic stop or a call about a disturbance, create warrantless arrest cases. The booking is the same. The only difference is the court has less time to hold the first hearing.

First appearance hearings in Fannin County take place at the county courthouse in Blue Ridge. The Appalachian Judicial Circuit assigns judges who handle cases in this part of the state. Hearings may not happen every day in Fannin County, but the 72 hour and 48 hour rules always apply. Missing the deadline gives the arrested person the right to ask for release. That does not come up often here, but the law protects it.

Bond is set at the first hearing in most cases. Some charges carry a standard bond schedule that lets someone bond out before seeing a judge. Call the jail at 706-632-2044 to check on bond status for anyone held in Fannin County.

72 Hour Booking Public Access in Fannin County

Booking records in Fannin County are public. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 is the Georgia Open Records Act. It gives anyone the right to ask for government records, including booking and arrest data. No reason is needed. The sheriff's office has to respond within three business days.

Call 706-632-2044 or go in person to the office at 645 W First St. You can also mail a request. Include the person's full name and arrest date if you know it. The office may charge a fee for copies. Basic questions about custody and charges can often be answered on a phone call with no paperwork needed.

O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 covers booking photos. The law says the sheriff's office cannot give a booking photo to anyone who will put it on a website or in a publication that charges for removal. The photo is still a public record otherwise. If you need one for personal reasons, file an open records request and the office will decide if it fits within the law.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation runs the state's criminal history check system through GCIC.

A GCIC background check through the GBI covers all arrests and convictions statewide, not just Fannin County. Call 404-244-2639 for details on how to request one.

State Resources for Fannin County Bookings

When you need to search beyond the Fannin County jail, several state tools are available. The Georgia Department of Corrections offender search covers people serving time in state prison. If a Fannin County arrest led to a conviction and state sentence, this free search will show the facility, sentence, and release info.

The VINE notification system is a free way to track inmates. You sign up for alerts and get a call, text, or email when someone is released, moved, or has a court date in Fannin County. The VINE phone number is 833-216-6670. It covers this county and most others in Georgia.

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association lists every sheriff in the state. If your search goes past Fannin County into the neighboring mountain counties, the directory gives you phone numbers and addresses for all of them.

Between the Fannin County Sheriff, the GDC search, VINE, and the GCIC, you can follow a booking from the first arrest through to final resolution.

72 Hour Booking Record Restriction in Fannin County

Georgia allows record restriction in certain situations. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 lets people restrict arrest records when charges were dropped, dismissed, or ended in acquittal. Restriction means the record will not show up on most background checks. It still exists, but public access is limited. If your Fannin County case ended without a conviction, you may qualify to have it restricted.

The First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, is another option. If a judge sentenced someone as a first offender and the person completed the entire sentence without problems, the conviction can be sealed. A Fannin County booking that resulted in a first offender sentence may not appear on standard searches after that. This only applies to people with no prior felony record.

To start the process, go through the court that handled the case in Fannin County. The clerk of court in Blue Ridge can help with the paperwork. There are fees, and it takes several weeks before the restriction updates across state systems. Law enforcement still has full access to restricted records. The restriction only hides the record from most public and employer checks.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Fannin County in north Georgia. If someone was arrested near a county line in the mountains, the booking could have ended up in one of these neighboring jails. Check the arrest location to be sure you are searching the right county.