Murray County Police Records Lookup

Police records in Murray County are maintained by the Murray County Sheriff's Office in Chatsworth. Sheriff Jimmy Davenport leads the department. Murray County is in northwest Georgia in the Appalachian foothills, and the sheriff's office is the primary agency that handles police reports, arrest records, and incident documents at the county level. Chatsworth is the county seat and the largest city in Murray County. The sheriff's office handles records requests from the public and works alongside the Chatsworth Police Department, which covers incidents within the city limits. For county-level records, the sheriff's office is where you go.

Murray County Sheriff's Office Contact

Sheriff Jimmy Davenport leads law enforcement in Murray County. The sheriff's office is on GI Maddox Parkway in Chatsworth. The office handles patrol, criminal investigations, and records management for the county. Staff process records requests from the public during normal business hours.

Call (706) 695-4592 for records questions. Tell the staff what you need. Have dates, names, or a case number ready. The more detail you give, the quicker the search goes. Walk-in requests at the Chatsworth office are also accepted during business hours.

You can look up crash reports from Murray County through the BuyCrash system by LexisNexis. This portal hosts accident reports from agencies across Georgia.

Search by date, name, or location to find specific crash reports filed in Murray County.

How to Request Records

Phone is the fastest way to start. Call the sheriff's office and describe the record you need. Staff can check the files and explain how to get copies. For a written request, send a letter to 810-1/2 GI Maddox Pkwy, Chatsworth, GA 30705. Include your full name, contact info, and what records you want. Keep the language clear and simple.

Georgia's Open Records Act is the legal foundation for public access. O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 says every person has the right to inspect and copy public records. You do not have to be a Murray County resident. You do not have to give a reason. The law is clear and it applies to all records held by the sheriff's office. Police reports, arrest records, and crash reports are all covered.

In-person visits work well for simple requests. Go to the office in Chatsworth, ask for the record, and staff can pull it while you wait. For bigger requests, it takes more time. But visiting in person gives you the chance to review files and pick which pages you want copied. That can save money on large requests.

Written requests create a paper trail. This is useful if there are delays or if the office disputes your request. Even a short handwritten note counts. The important thing is to clearly state what records you want and when you made the request.

Note: The Chatsworth Police Department holds records for incidents within city limits. Check with them if the event happened inside Chatsworth city boundaries.

Murray County Response Times

Three business days. Under O.C.G.A. 50-18-71, the Murray County Sheriff's Office has three business days to respond to your records request. The response can be the records or a notice saying when the records will be available. Both satisfy the legal requirement.

Most simple requests get handled fast. A single incident report or arrest record is often ready in a day. Complex requests that span multiple files, dates, or cases take more time. The office may need to review documents and redact protected information before release. Social Security numbers, medical information, and juvenile records have to be removed. That review process takes extra time.

If you do not hear back in three days, follow up with a phone call. A reminder usually gets things moving. If the office still does not respond, O.C.G.A. 50-18-73 lets you take the issue to superior court. A judge can compel the release and may award attorney fees if the office is found to have violated the Open Records Act. It rarely goes that far, but the legal right is there.

Records Available in Murray County

The Murray County Sheriff's Office keeps incident reports, arrest records, accident reports, and citation records. Incident reports cover crimes, disturbances, property damage, and calls for service. Arrest records document bookings, charges, and bond amounts. Accident reports handle crashes that deputies respond to. Citations cover traffic stops and minor offenses.

Georgia law at O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 makes initial incident and arrest reports public records. This applies even when an investigation is still active. The first report filed is always available to the public. The full investigative file beyond that initial report can be held back until the case is closed. But the basic facts are always accessible. This applies to Murray County the same as every other county in the state.

Crash reports from the Georgia State Patrol go through the EPORTS system. If a trooper handled a wreck in Murray County, that is where the report lives. EPORTS reports cost $5 each. If you are not sure who responded to a crash, check both the sheriff's office and EPORTS to cover your bases.

Fees and Costs

Page copies are $0.10 each. Viewing records in person costs nothing. The first 15 minutes of staff search time are free. After that, the office can charge an hourly rate based on the lowest-paid employee who can fulfill the request.

If your total cost will exceed $25, the sheriff's office must let you know in advance. You can then decide to pay the amount, scale back your request, or cancel entirely. This protects you from surprise bills, especially on broad or open-ended requests that could generate hundreds of pages.

Check payment methods before you go. Cash is safe. Checks and money orders work at most offices. Credit card acceptance varies. A quick call to (706) 695-4592 can confirm what they take so you are prepared when you arrive or when the bill comes.

State-Level Resources

The EPORTS portal from the Georgia Department of Public Safety provides online access to crash reports, incident reports, and citation records from the Georgia State Patrol. If a trooper responded to something in Murray County, check EPORTS. You can also email the DPS Open Records Unit at openrecords@gsp.net for anything not in the online system.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintains records for cases where GBI agents assisted local law enforcement. Major investigations in Murray County may have produced GBI records that are separate from the sheriff's files. For legal help with a records request, the State Bar of Georgia offers a referral service to connect you with a lawyer familiar with Georgia's open records laws.

Note: Murray County is near the Tennessee border, so incidents involving people from out of state are not uncommon. Georgia's Open Records Act still applies regardless of who is involved in the incident.

Nearby County Police Records

Murray County shares borders with several other northwest Georgia counties. If an incident happened near a county line, a different sheriff's office may hold the record. Check the neighboring counties below if you cannot find what you need from Murray County.