Find Bartow County Police Records

Bartow County police records are kept by the Bartow County Sheriff's Office in Cartersville, Georgia. Sheriff Clark Millsap leads the department, which serves as the primary law enforcement agency for the county. The sheriff's office handles incident reports, arrest records, accident reports, and background checks for Bartow County residents and the public. Cartersville also has its own police department that keeps separate records for incidents within city limits. Getting police records here starts with knowing which agency responded to the event you are looking into.

Bartow County Sheriff's Office

The Bartow County Sheriff's Office is the main source for police records in this county. Sheriff Clark Millsap oversees all operations from the office at 104 Zena Drive, Cartersville, GA 30121. The phone number is (770) 382-5050. The office is open Monday through Friday during normal business hours. This is where you go for incident reports, arrest records, and other police files from the sheriff's department.

To get police records from the Bartow County Sheriff's Office, you submit an open records request. Georgia law allows you to make the request orally, in writing, by email, or in person. Written requests are recommended because they create a clear trail. Include the date of the incident, names of people involved, and the specific type of record you need. A case number helps if you have one. The more details you provide, the faster the staff can find what you are looking for in their system.

The Georgia DPS EPORTS portal provides online access to State Patrol reports from Bartow County and other areas across the state.

If the Georgia State Patrol handled an incident in Bartow County, you use the EPORTS system at eports.gamccd.net instead of going through the sheriff's office.

Note: If you are unsure whether the sheriff's office or the Cartersville Police Department handled your incident, call (770) 382-5050 and the staff can check for you.

Open Records Process in Bartow County

Georgia's Open Records Act gives you the legal right to access police records from Bartow County agencies. Under O.C.G.A. 50-18-70, public records must be available for inspection and copying. This includes incident reports, arrest records, booking photos, and other law enforcement documents held by the sheriff's office and local police departments. The law covers paper files and electronic records alike.

Agencies in Bartow County have three business days to respond to your request. That is the rule under O.C.G.A. 50-18-71. The response does not have to include the records themselves. The agency just needs to tell you what they have, what it will cost, and when it will be ready. If the records are simple and on hand, you may get them right away. More complex requests take longer. The three-day clock starts when the agency gets your request, not when you mail it.

Fees for police records in Bartow County follow the state schedule. Copies are $0.10 per page. Search and retrieval time is charged at the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employee who can do the work. The first 15 minutes of search time are free. If the estimated cost goes over $25, the office will contact you before they do the work so you can decide whether to go ahead. These rules protect you from surprise bills.

Bartow County Incident Reports

Incident reports from Bartow County cover a wide range of events. Thefts, assaults, property damage, domestic calls, and other crimes all generate incident reports when a deputy or officer responds. Each report has a case number, the date and time, the location, names of people involved, and a narrative written by the responding officer. These are the most basic type of police record in Bartow County.

Initial incident reports are always public in Georgia. That is a key point. Even if the case is still being investigated, the initial report must be released when someone asks for it. This is one of the strongest provisions of the Georgia Open Records Act. It means you do not have to wait for a case to close before getting the basic details of what happened. The full investigation file may be held back under O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 while the case is active, but the initial report itself is always available from Bartow County agencies.

Accident Reports for Bartow County

Crash reports from Bartow County are available through the sheriff's office if a deputy worked the scene. Many agencies in Georgia charge $5 for accident reports. You can also check BuyCrash.com to see if the report has been uploaded online. BuyCrash is a LexisNexis service that several Georgia law enforcement agencies use to make crash reports available for download.

For Georgia State Patrol crash reports from Bartow County, go to eports.gamccd.net. Submit your request with the date and location of the crash. State patrol reports cost $5 and are usually processed within three business days. An email will let you know when it is ready. You then enter your request number on the EPORTS site, pay, and download the report.

Under Georgia law, people not involved in the crash may need to provide a written statement of need before getting a copy of the accident report. This comes from O.C.G.A. 50-18-72. If you were in the crash, you can get your report without that extra step. Insurance companies and attorneys also have access for cases they are working on.

Note: Bartow County crash reports handled by city police in Cartersville should be requested from the Cartersville Police Department, not the sheriff's office.

Bartow County Background Checks

The Bartow County Sheriff's Office handles background check services for the county. These checks pull criminal history information from local and state databases. The fee varies but is typically around $15 for a county-level check. You may need to visit in person and provide identification. For a statewide check, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintains the Georgia Crime Information Center with records from all 159 counties.

Court records from the Bartow County Clerk of Superior Court provide another way to look into a person's criminal history in the county. These records include filings, charges, case outcomes, and sentencing details. Court records and police records are kept in different systems, so you may need to check both to get a full picture. The clerk's office is at the Bartow County Courthouse in Cartersville.

Cartersville and Other Bartow County Agencies

Bartow County has more than just the sheriff's office. The Cartersville Police Department handles police records for incidents within the city of Cartersville. If a city officer took the report, you need to contact Cartersville PD for that record. The sheriff's office only has records for incidents worked by county deputies. Smaller communities in Bartow County may also have their own police departments with separate records.

Knowing which agency responded to an incident is the first step. If you call 911 in Bartow County, the dispatcher sends the nearest available unit, which could be a county deputy or a city officer depending on the location. The responding agency keeps the police record. If you are not sure, either agency can usually tell you whether they have the report in their system or point you to the right place. Bartow County dispatch records may also show which unit was assigned to a specific call.

What Records Are Available in Bartow County

Police records you can get from Bartow County agencies include initial incident reports, initial arrest reports, booking records and mug shots, 911 call records, citations, and crash reports from closed cases. Internal affairs records become public 10 days after they are filed with the agency. Crime lab reports from closed cases are also available. These are all covered under the Georgia Open Records Act.

Some records have restrictions. Social Security numbers are always removed. The day and month of a person's birth may be taken out. Home addresses and phone numbers of law enforcement officers can be withheld. Medical information and financial details may be redacted. Records that would reveal a confidential source or put someone in danger can be held back entirely. Despite these limits, most police records in Bartow County are open to the public and available for a small fee.

Nearby Counties

For police records from counties near Bartow County, check these links.