Montgomery County Records Access

Police records in Montgomery County are held by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. Sheriff Ben Maybin leads the department. Montgomery County is a rural county in southeast Georgia, and the sheriff's office serves as the sole county-level law enforcement agency. All police reports, arrest records, and incident documents are filed and stored by the sheriff's office. Because the county has a small population and limited online infrastructure, most records requests are handled by phone, mail, or in-person visits to the office in Mt. Vernon.

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Ben Maybin runs the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office from Mt. Vernon. The office is responsible for all county law enforcement. That includes patrol, criminal investigation, and the management of police records. Staff handle public records requests during normal business hours.

Call (912) 583-2521 and ask for the records you need. Staff can look up files and explain the process. Come prepared with dates, names, or a case number. Without specifics, the search takes longer. If you prefer mail, send your request to PO Box 277, Mt. Vernon, GA 30445.

The BuyCrash portal by LexisNexis is an online option for finding crash reports filed in Montgomery County.

BuyCrash allows you to search for and purchase Georgia crash reports by date, location, or person name.

How to Get Records

There are three ways. Phone is the quickest starting point. Call and tell staff what you are after. For written requests, mail a letter to PO Box 277, Mt. Vernon, GA 30445. Keep your letter simple. State your name, contact info, and what records you want. No legal language is needed. A clear description of the record is enough.

Georgia's Open Records Act gives you the legal right to ask. O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 says every person can inspect and copy public records. You do not need to live in Montgomery County or Georgia. You do not have to say why you want the records. The law puts the responsibility on the agency to provide access when asked.

In-person visits to the office in Mt. Vernon work too. Bring an ID and be ready to wait while staff pull the file. For one or two reports, the wait is usually short. Larger requests take more time to prepare. Going in person lets you look at records before deciding which pages you want copied, which can keep costs down.

Written requests are smart practice. They document your request and when you made it. If any issue comes up later, you have proof. A handwritten note works as well as a typed letter.

Note: Montgomery County has limited online access to records, so phone and mail are the most reliable methods for getting documents.

Montgomery County Response Times

Georgia law sets a three-business-day deadline. Under O.C.G.A. 50-18-71, the sheriff's office must respond within three business days of receiving your request. A response could mean handing over the records, or it could be a notice that the records will be ready on a specified date. Both are legally valid responses.

Simple requests are fast. A single incident report or arrest record can often be ready within a day or two. Complex requests with multiple files or long date ranges take longer. The office may also need to check for protected information before releasing records. Things like Social Security numbers, medical details, and juvenile data must be redacted.

If you do not hear back in three business days, follow up by phone. A call usually resolves any delay. If the office still will not respond, Georgia law under O.C.G.A. 50-18-73 gives you the right to file suit in superior court. A judge can order the release and may award your legal costs if the court finds a violation of the Open Records Act.

What Records Are Public?

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office maintains incident reports, arrest records, accident reports, and citation records. Incident reports document crimes, disturbances, and service calls. Arrest records include booking details and charges. Accident reports cover crashes within the county. Citations document traffic stops and violations.

O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 makes initial incident and arrest reports public in Georgia. Even active investigation records are partially accessible. The initial report is always available. The investigative file beyond that can be held back until the case wraps up. But the first report with the basic facts is public at all times. This is a core part of Georgia's Open Records Act and applies to every county sheriff in the state.

For crash reports filed by the Georgia State Patrol in Montgomery County, use the EPORTS system. Those reports are $5 each. If a sheriff's deputy filed the crash report, that stays with the sheriff's office and you request it directly from them. Figuring out which agency responded is the first step in finding the right report.

Fees for Montgomery County Records

Copies cost $0.10 per page. That is the standard Georgia rate. In-person inspection of records is free. You only pay when you request copies.

The first 15 minutes of search time are free. After that, the sheriff's office can charge by the hour. The rate is tied to the wage of the lowest-paid employee who can complete the task. If the total bill will exceed $25, the office must tell you before doing the work. You then choose to pay, reduce the scope of your request, or cancel.

Call ahead to check payment methods. Cash works at almost every Georgia sheriff's office. Checks and money orders are usually fine. Card payment is less certain at small rural offices. It only takes a quick phone call to find out.

State Resources

The EPORTS portal from the Georgia Department of Public Safety provides access to State Patrol crash reports, incident records, and citations. If a trooper handled something in Montgomery County, the report is in that system. Email the DPS Open Records Unit at openrecords@gsp.net for records not available online.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation keeps records for cases where GBI agents were involved in Montgomery County. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association maintains a statewide directory useful for verifying contact info. For legal questions about records access, the State Bar of Georgia has a referral service that connects you with attorneys who handle Open Records Act cases.

Note: Each agency keeps its own files. If both the sheriff's office and the State Patrol responded to the same incident, you may need separate requests to get the full picture.

Nearby County Police Records

Montgomery County borders several other counties in southeast Georgia. If an incident happened near a county line, a neighboring agency might hold the record. Check the counties below if your search in Montgomery County comes up empty.