Access Clayton County Police Records

Police records in Clayton County are managed by both the sheriff's office and the Clayton County Police Department in Jonesboro. This south metro Atlanta county has a population of over 300,000 and generates a high volume of law enforcement records each year. The sheriff's office handles jail operations and civil process while the county police department handles most patrol and investigation duties. Municipal police departments in cities like Stockbridge, Morrow, and Forest Park also keep their own records for incidents within their city limits. Getting the right record starts with knowing which agency responded to the call.

Clayton County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Levon Allen leads the Clayton County Sheriff's Office. The main office is at 9157 Tara Blvd, Jonesboro, GA 30236. You can reach them at (770) 477-4469. The sheriff's office runs the county jail, handles courthouse security, and serves civil papers. Booking records and inmate information go through this office. If you need jail records or want to check on someone who was booked into the Clayton County Jail, the sheriff's office is the right place to start.

The Clayton County Police Department is a separate agency from the sheriff's office. The police department handles most of the daily patrol and investigation work in unincorporated areas of the county. If you need an incident report, arrest report from a field arrest, or accident report, you will likely need to contact the police department rather than the sheriff's office. This split between agencies is common in larger Georgia counties but it can cause confusion. When in doubt, call the sheriff's office at (770) 477-4469 and they can point you to the right agency.

Clayton County is a busy county. It sits right below the City of Atlanta and includes areas near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. That traffic and population density means a lot of incidents, accidents, and arrests generate records every day.

How to Request Clayton County Records

The Georgia Open Records Act at O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 gives you the right to get copies of police records from any government agency in the state. That covers both the Clayton County Sheriff's Office and the Clayton County Police Department. You do not have to explain why you want the records. Just provide enough detail so staff can find the right file. A date, name, location, or case number all help speed up the process.

You can request records in person, by phone, by email, or by mail. Written requests are always the best option because they create a record of your submission. If the agency is slow to respond, you have proof of when you asked. The agency must reply within three business days under O.C.G.A. 50-18-71. That reply might be the actual records, a fee estimate, or a timeline for when the records will be ready. In a high-volume county like Clayton, expect some requests to take a bit longer than the initial three-day window, especially if the records need to be pulled from older files.

For simple requests like a single incident report or crash report, turnaround is usually quick. Walk into the records division, give them the details, and they can often pull it while you wait. For more involved requests covering multiple reports or a wide date range, be prepared to wait a few days.

Note: Always confirm which agency handled the incident before submitting your request to avoid delays.

Clayton County Records Fees

Fees for police records in Clayton County follow state law. Copies cost $0.10 per page. That is the same rate across every government agency in Georgia. The first quarter hour of search time is free. After that, the agency can charge based on the hourly pay of the lowest-paid employee who can do the work. If your total will go past $25, the agency must let you know before they start so you can decide whether to proceed.

You can inspect records at no cost. That means you can visit the office, look at the records in person, and then decide which pages you actually want copied. This is a good way to keep your bill down if you are working with a large file and only need specific pages. There is no fee for the inspection itself. The agency must make the records available for you to look at during normal business hours.

Types of Police Reports in Clayton County

Clayton County agencies maintain several types of police records. Incident reports cover crimes and calls for service. They document the date, time, location, and facts of what happened. Arrest records show who was taken into custody, what charges were filed, and the booking details. Accident reports cover vehicle crashes within the county. Booking records from the county jail are held by the sheriff's office and show intake information for people who were jailed.

Under O.C.G.A. 50-18-72, initial incident reports and initial arrest reports are always public. That is the case even when a case is still under investigation. But detailed investigation notes and files connected to an open case can be withheld until the case closes. Social Security numbers, medical info, and certain personal data are always blacked out before copies are released. Juvenile records are sealed under Georgia law and are not available through a regular open records request.

Crash reports have special rules. If you were in the accident, you can get your report without extra steps. If you were not involved, you may need to provide a written reason for wanting the report. Georgia treats motor vehicle accident reports with more privacy than most other police records because of the personal and insurance details they include.

State Resources for Clayton County

State tools can help you find certain records from Clayton County. The EPORTS system from the Georgia Department of Public Safety stores crash reports filed by Georgia State Patrol troopers. If a trooper responded to a crash on I-75, Highway 19/41, or any state route in Clayton County, the report goes into EPORTS. You can search and purchase those reports online for a flat fee.

The EPORTS portal is a statewide system that includes crash reports from Georgia State Patrol responses in Clayton County and all other counties.

Start here when looking for a state trooper crash report from anywhere in Clayton County.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation may have records for major cases where the GBI assisted Clayton County agencies. Their request process is separate and handled through the GBI website. The BuyCrash portal lets you search for crash reports from multiple agencies at once. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association website can help you verify current contact details for the Clayton County Sheriff's Office.

Cities in Clayton County

Clayton County has several cities with their own police departments. If the incident you are looking for happened within city limits, the city police department may have the report rather than the county police. Always check which agency responded before submitting your request.

Stockbridge is one of the larger cities in Clayton County and has its own police department. For incidents within Stockbridge city limits, contact the Stockbridge Police Department for records. For anything outside city limits in the county, reach out to the Clayton County Police Department or the sheriff's office.

Other cities in the county like Jonesboro, Morrow, Forest Park, Lake City, and Riverdale also have their own police forces. Each keeps its own set of records for incidents within their jurisdictions. A call to the Clayton County non-emergency line can help you figure out which agency handled a specific incident if you are not sure.

Nearby County Police Records

Clayton County shares borders with several other counties in the south Atlanta metro area. If an incident happened near a county line, the report may be on file with a neighboring agency. Verify the right jurisdiction before sending your request.