Access Taliaferro County 72 Hour Booking Records

Taliaferro County 72 hour booking records are kept by the Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office in Crawfordville. As one of the least populated counties in the entire state, Taliaferro County has a small jail and a small number of bookings each year.

Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Tia McWilliams runs the Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office. The mailing address is PO Box 97, Crawfordville, GA 30631. The phone number is 706-456-2345. This is a small office, and the sheriff's deputies handle all law enforcement duties for the county. Every arrest in Taliaferro County goes through this office.

There is no online inmate search for Taliaferro County. To find out if someone was booked, you need to call the office or drive to Crawfordville and ask in person. When you call, have the person's full name ready. The staff can check if someone is in custody and tell you about the charges and bond. Because the jail is so small, they usually know right away.

Taliaferro County has fewer arrests per year than almost any other county in Georgia. The population is under 2,000, and Crawfordville is the only real town. Most arrests involve traffic offenses, minor drug charges, or warrants from other counties. The low volume means records are easy to look up once you reach the right person at the office.

The county is in the Northern Judicial Circuit. First appearance hearings happen at the Taliaferro County courthouse in Crawfordville. The magistrate judge handles bond settings and warrant reviews. Because of the small caseload, court days may not happen every day, but the 72 hour and 48 hour hearing deadlines still apply.

How 72 Hour Booking Works in Taliaferro County

Under O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26, anyone arrested on a warrant in Georgia must see a judge within 72 hours. The hearing is called a first appearance. In Taliaferro County, the magistrate judge handles these. The 72 hour clock starts at the time of arrest, not at the time of booking. Even if the jail is short-staffed and booking takes a few hours, the deadline runs from when the officer made the arrest.

For arrests made without a warrant, O.C.G.A. § 17-4-62 requires a hearing within 48 hours. This happens when a deputy catches someone in the act. Taliaferro County does not see a high number of warrantless arrests, but they do happen. A deputy might pull someone over and find drugs or an outstanding warrant from another county. The 48 hour rule kicks in for on-the-spot arrests.

The booking process is standard. The jail staff take a photo and fingerprints. They log the person's name, date of birth, address, charges, arresting officer, and the time of arrest. All of this goes into the booking record. Even in a county this small, the process follows the same state rules as a large metro county.

Because Taliaferro County's jail is small, inmates may be transferred to a neighboring county facility. If you call and they say the person is not there, ask where they were sent. Transfers to Greene County or Hancock County are not unusual when space is tight.

Requesting Public 72 Hour Booking Records

Georgia's Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, makes booking records public. You can ask for them without giving a reason. Write to the Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office at PO Box 97, Crawfordville, GA 30631, or call 706-456-2345. The office has three business days to respond.

Include the person's name and arrest date in your request. State what documents you need. The office may charge a small fee for copies. A few cents per page is typical. If they cannot provide what you asked for, they must give you a reason in writing. Most requests in a county this small get handled quickly because the volume is low.

O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 controls booking photos. The sheriff cannot hand over a booking photo to someone who will post it on a website that charges money to take it down. You can still get booking photos through a standard open records request as long as your purpose does not fall under that rule.

The Georgia Department of Corrections offender search helps track someone who was booked in Taliaferro County and later sent to state prison.

The GDC tool is free and shows sentence details, facility location, and release dates for anyone in the state prison system.

Statewide 72 Hour Booking Resources

The Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) can run a statewide criminal history check. Call 404-244-2639 for information. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, the GCIC collects arrest data from all Georgia counties. A background check through them costs a fee but covers every county, not just Taliaferro.

The VINE notification system lets you register for free alerts about an inmate. You get updates when someone is released, moved, or has a court date. Call 833-216-6670 or sign up on the VINE website. The service works for Taliaferro County and most other counties in Georgia.

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association directory lists contact details for every sheriff's office in the state. If you need to check surrounding counties, this list saves time.

Use that list to call Greene, Hancock, Warren, or any other nearby county if you think the booking happened outside Taliaferro County lines.

Record Restriction in Taliaferro County

O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 covers record restriction under Georgia's First Offender Act. If someone finished their sentence under this program, they can ask the court to restrict the booking record from public view. A judge makes the decision.

Once restricted, the record will not show up on standard background checks. Law enforcement still has access, but the general public does not. In Taliaferro County, where the number of cases is very low, a missing record could mean it was restricted rather than never existing in the first place.

Serious offenses usually do not qualify for restriction. Violent felonies and sex crimes are excluded from the First Offender Act in most cases. The person also has to have completed every part of their sentence before they can file. The clerk of court in Crawfordville can tell you if a particular record has been restricted.

Nearby Counties

Taliaferro County is one of the smallest counties in Georgia by both size and population. It sits in the east-central part of the state. These neighboring counties may have handled a booking if the arrest happened near a county line.