Pickens County 72 Hour Booking Search

Pickens County 72 hour booking records are held by the Pickens County Sheriff's Office in Jasper. To check on a recent arrest or find someone in the county jail, call the sheriff's office directly since there is no online inmate search for Pickens County.

Pickens County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Donald Craig leads the Pickens County Sheriff's Office. The office is at 2985 Camp Rd, Jasper, GA 30143. Call 706-253-8900 for booking questions, charge info, and bond amounts. The sheriff's office is the main law enforcement agency for the county and runs the jail.

Pickens County does not offer an online jail roster. To find out if someone is in custody, you need to call or visit the sheriff's office. Give them the name of the person you are looking for. Jail staff will check the system and tell you what they find. They can share charges and bond details by phone. Walk-in requests are handled during normal office hours at the Camp Road location.

Pickens County sits in the north Georgia mountains. Jasper is the county seat and the main town. Talking Rock and Nelson are smaller communities in the county. The area draws visitors for its marble quarries and mountain scenery, but the sheriff's office deals with the same kinds of calls you see anywhere. DUI arrests, drug cases, theft, and domestic incidents make up most of the booking activity. All arrests in the county go through the same jail on Camp Road.

The volume of bookings in Pickens County is moderate compared to larger metro counties. But the booking process is the same as everywhere in Georgia. Deputies bring the person in, staff record personal details, charges are logged, a photo is taken, and bond is set. The whole intake process takes a few hours. After that, the person either bonds out or stays until their court date.

How 72 Hour Booking Works in Pickens County

Georgia law says a person cannot sit in jail too long without seeing a judge. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26 requires that anyone arrested on a warrant must appear before a judicial officer within 72 hours. That is the rule behind "72 hour booking." The time starts at arrest. It does not start when the person arrives at the Pickens County jail.

Warrantless arrests have a shorter deadline. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-62 sets a 48 hour window for a probable cause hearing. This applies to on-the-spot arrests. A deputy who pulls someone over for DUI and makes an arrest on the spot is a common example. The person must see a judge within 48 hours. Pickens County magistrate judges schedule hearings to meet both the 72 hour and 48 hour deadlines.

Hearings happen at the Pickens County courthouse in Jasper. The judge reads charges, explains rights, and sets bond if the case allows it. Weekend arrests can push timelines close to the limit. An arrest on Friday night with a warrant means the hearing has to happen by Monday night at the latest. The county makes sure these deadlines are met.

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association has a directory of all county sheriffs with phone numbers and addresses:

Use this to find Sheriff Craig's office or any other county sheriff you need to reach.

Public Access to Pickens County 72 Hour Booking Records

Booking records in Pickens County are public under the Georgia Open Records Act. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 gives everyone the right to request government records. No reason needed. The sheriff's office must respond within three business days. There may be copy fees for printed records. Phone questions about current inmates are usually answered at no cost.

To get records, call 706-253-8900 or visit the office on Camp Road. Ask for booking sheets, arrest reports, or charge lists. Written requests work best for getting official copies. Include the person's name and a date range so staff can find the right file.

Booking photos are covered by O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19. This law prevents agencies from handing over photos to people who will post them on sites that charge for removal. The photos remain public records. You can get them through an open records request as long as you are not using them for a mugshot website.

Georgia Statewide 72 Hour Booking Resources

The Georgia Department of Corrections offender search is useful if someone from Pickens County was sentenced to state prison. The free search tool shows their current facility, sentence info, and projected release date. It covers anyone in the state prison system.

The Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC), part of the GBI, handles criminal background checks for the whole state. Call 404-244-2639. A GCIC check pulls records from every county in Georgia. This gives you more info than just Pickens County records.

The VINE notification system lets you track inmates after booking. Sign up for free alerts by phone, text, or email. VINE tells you when an inmate is released, transferred, or has a court date. Call 833-216-6670. The service works across Georgia, including Pickens County.

The GCIC page from the GBI explains how to get criminal history records:

This resource covers the full background check process for anyone looking beyond county-level records.

Record Restriction in Pickens County

Georgia lets some people restrict their arrest records. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 says if charges are dropped, dismissed, or the person is acquitted, they can apply for restriction. A restricted record does not show on most background checks. It is still in the system, but the public cannot see it.

O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, the First Offender Act, is another option. A judge can sentence someone as a first offender if they have no prior felony convictions. When the sentence is done without issues, the conviction is sealed. A Pickens County booking that ended with a first offender sentence may not come up on standard records checks later.

To apply, file with the court that handled the case. The Pickens County Clerk of Court in Jasper can help with the right forms. There are filing fees. It takes several weeks for the restriction to go through all state databases. Law enforcement can still see restricted records, but the public cannot.

Cities in Pickens County

Pickens County includes Jasper, the county seat and largest city. All arrests in the county are processed at the Pickens County jail on Camp Road.

Other communities in Pickens County include Talking Rock and Nelson. Arrests in these areas go through the same Pickens County booking process.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Pickens County. If you are not sure where an arrest happened, check the neighboring sheriff's offices. An arrest near a county line could end up in a different jail.