Oglethorpe County Police Records

Oglethorpe County police records are kept by the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office in Lexington, Georgia. Sheriff David Gabriel leads the department and serves as the chief law enforcement officer for the county. The sheriff's office handles patrol, investigations, and records management across the entire county. Oglethorpe County is a rural county with a small population, so the sheriff's office is the main source for almost all police records. There are no large city police departments within the county. When you need a police record from this area, the sheriff's office in Lexington is where you start.

Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office

The Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office mailing address is PO Box 17, Lexington, GA 30648. The phone number is (706) 743-8101. Sheriff David Gabriel runs the office. As a small rural department, the sheriff's office handles all aspects of law enforcement in Oglethorpe County. Deputies patrol the county, investigate crimes, serve warrants, and manage the county jail. The records division is part of the administrative side of the office and handles requests for incident reports, arrest records, and other police files.

To get records from the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office, submit a request in person, by phone, or in writing. A written request is recommended. Include the date of the incident, names of anyone involved, the location, and the type of record you need. Case numbers help a lot. In a small office like this, staff members often know about incidents from memory, but having the right details in your request makes the process smoother and faster.

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association maintains a directory that lists Sheriff Gabriel's office and every other county sheriff in Georgia.

The directory is useful for verifying the address and phone number of the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office before you submit your request.

Note: Oglethorpe County is a small department, so calling ahead before visiting can save you a wasted trip if the records clerk is out of the office.

Open Records Process for Oglethorpe County

The Georgia Open Records Act applies to all police records in Oglethorpe County. Under O.C.G.A. 50-18-70, public records must be available for inspection and copying by any person. You do not have to be a county resident. You do not need to explain why you want the records. The law applies equally to everyone. Police reports, arrest records, booking data, citations, dispatch logs, and crash reports all fall under this law.

Oglethorpe County agencies must respond to your request within three business days, per O.C.G.A. 50-18-71. In practice, a small office like the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office can sometimes fill requests faster than that. If you call and ask for a single report, the staff may be able to pull it while you are on the phone and have it ready for pickup the same day. Written requests that arrive by mail will follow the standard three-day timeline once they are received by the office.

Copy fees are $0.10 per page statewide. Search time beyond the first 15 free minutes is charged at the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employee who can do the work. For a small request like a single incident report, the total cost is usually just a few dollars. Larger requests involving many pages or extended searches cost more, and the agency will give you an estimate before starting the work if the total is expected to exceed $25.

What Records Can You Get

Police records you can get from Oglethorpe County include initial incident reports, initial arrest reports, booking records and photos, 911 call recordings, citations, and crash reports. Initial incident reports and arrest reports are always public in Georgia, even when the case is still open. This is a key part of the law. You do not have to wait for a case to close to get the basic report.

Some records have limits. Active investigation files may be withheld under O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 until the case is closed. Social Security numbers are always removed from records before they are released. Birth dates may be partially redacted. Home addresses and phone numbers of law enforcement officers can be withheld. Medical information and financial details are also redacted. These protections apply to all records released by the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office and every other agency in the state.

Internal affairs records, if any exist, become public 10 days after filing. Crime lab reports from closed cases are available. In a rural county like Oglethorpe, many of these specialized record types come up rarely, but the rules still apply when they do.

Oglethorpe County Crash Reports

Traffic crash reports from Oglethorpe County are available from the sheriff's office if a deputy investigated the crash. The fee is usually $5. For State Patrol crash reports, use the EPORTS online system. State Patrol reports also cost $5 and take about three business days to process.

You can check BuyCrash.com to see if the report has been uploaded online. Not every agency in Georgia uses BuyCrash, but it is worth a look. The Georgia State Patrol covers a lot of the highway traffic in Oglethorpe County, so there is a good chance that crashes on state routes were handled by a trooper rather than a county deputy.

If you were involved in the crash, you can get your report without any extra requirements. People not involved in the crash may need to provide a written statement explaining their need for the record. Insurance companies and attorneys handling the case also have access. These rules come from state law and apply in every county.

Criminal History in Oglethorpe County

For a criminal history check in Oglethorpe County, the sheriff's office can run a local search of their arrest and booking records. This shows you what has happened within the county. For a broader search, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintains statewide criminal history records through the Georgia Crime Information Center. A GBI check pulls data from all 159 counties and gives a much fuller picture. The fee is typically $15 to $20.

Court records from the Oglethorpe County Clerk of Superior Court are another resource. These include case filings, charges, dispositions, and sentencing information. Police records tell you about the arrest. Court records tell you what happened in court afterward. Together they give the complete story. The clerk's office is at the Oglethorpe County Courthouse in Lexington. Some records may also be searchable online through the Georgia courts portal.

Note: Because Oglethorpe County is small, some residents have interactions with law enforcement in neighboring Clarke County or other nearby counties, so a statewide search may be more useful here than a local-only check.

Rural County Considerations

Oglethorpe County has a small population and limited staff. The sheriff's office does its best to handle requests promptly, but staffing levels can affect response times. If you are making a request, be patient and follow up if you have not heard back within a week. A phone call to check on the status of your request is perfectly fine and usually appreciated.

Because there are no major city police departments in Oglethorpe County, the sheriff's office is your one-stop shop for nearly all police records. The only other agency that regularly creates police reports in the county is the Georgia State Patrol, and those reports are handled through the state EPORTS system. This makes the records process in Oglethorpe County straightforward compared to counties that have multiple city departments with separate records systems.

Nearby Counties

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