Stewart County Records Access

Stewart County police records are kept by the Stewart County Sheriff's Office in Lumpkin, Georgia. The sheriff's office is the sole law enforcement agency for most of the county, which is one of the least populated in the state. Police records here include incident reports, arrest records, and accident reports filed by deputies. Stewart County sits in southwest Georgia along the Chattahoochee River, and its rural nature means the sheriff's office handles everything from property crimes to traffic accidents across a wide area. Public access to these records follows the Georgia Open Records Act.

Stewart County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Larry Jones runs the Stewart County Sheriff's Office. The mailing address is PO Box 817 in Lumpkin, GA 31815. You can call the office at (229) 838-4311. Staff are available during normal business hours Monday through Friday. The office is small compared to more urban counties, but it handles the same types of records and follows the same Georgia laws on public access.

Stewart County does not have a separate municipal police force in Lumpkin. The sheriff's office provides law enforcement for the entire county, including the town of Lumpkin itself. This means all police records for the county are centralized in one office. That makes things simpler when you need to find a report.

Because of the county's small size and low population, the staff at the sheriff's office can often locate records quickly. Call ahead and give them the details of your request so they can have the records ready when you arrive.

How to Get Stewart County Police Records

Georgia's Open Records Act under O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 applies to every law enforcement agency in the state, including the Stewart County Sheriff's Office. Anyone can request police records. You don't need to live in the county. You don't need to explain your reasons. The law is straightforward on this point.

To request records, contact the sheriff's office by phone, visit in person, or send a written request by mail to the PO Box address in Lumpkin. Written requests are useful because they document exactly what you asked for and when. Provide a case number if you have one. If not, include dates, names, and as much detail as you can about the incident. The more information you give, the faster staff can find what you need.

The office must respond within three business days per O.C.G.A. 50-18-71. For a small office like Stewart County's, you may get records faster than that, especially for simple requests. Copies cost $0.10 per page. The first 15 minutes of search time are free. Charges beyond that are based on the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employee who can do the search.

Note: In a small county like Stewart, calling ahead before visiting saves time and lets staff prepare your records in advance.

Public Access to Police Records

Under O.C.G.A. 50-18-72, initial incident reports and arrest records are public in Georgia. This applies to Stewart County just like everywhere else in the state. The initial report from any call for service is open to anyone who asks. Arrest records showing the person's name, charges, and booking details are also public.

There are exceptions. If the sheriff's office has an active investigation, they may hold back portions of the investigative file. But the initial report stays public. Records involving juveniles may have identifying details removed before release. The office can also redact Social Security numbers and certain financial information from records before handing them over.

If a request is denied, the sheriff's office has to tell you why in writing. They must cite a specific legal exemption. You can challenge a denial through the courts if you think it was wrong. Georgia courts tend to side with public access when the law supports it.

State Resources for Stewart County

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association keeps a current directory of every sheriff in the state with contact details and office information.

This is a helpful resource for confirming the current sheriff's name, phone number, and mailing address for Stewart County.

The Georgia EPORTS system handles crash reports written by the Georgia State Patrol. If a state trooper responded to an accident on a state highway in Stewart County, the report goes into EPORTS rather than the sheriff's office files. Reports cost $5 and are searchable by date, name, or location.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has its own open records process for cases where GBI agents were called in to assist Stewart County. The BuyCrash portal offers another avenue for locating crash reports from participating Georgia agencies. Since Stewart County is small, not all reports may appear in these systems, and going directly to the sheriff's office is sometimes the most reliable approach.

Stewart County Crash Reports

Traffic accident reports in Stewart County come from either the sheriff's office or the Georgia State Patrol. The sheriff's deputies handle crashes on county roads. State troopers cover state highways and any federal routes running through the area. Knowing who responded to the crash tells you where to look for the report.

For reports written by the sheriff's office, you request them through the normal open records process. Call the office or visit in person with the date, location, and names of the drivers involved. For State Patrol reports, go to the EPORTS website. These reports usually become available within a week of the accident. Each report costs $5 to download.

Stewart County's rural roads do not see the same volume of crashes as more urban counties. But the process for obtaining reports is the same regardless of volume. The officer who responds to the scene should give you a report number. That number is the fastest way to locate your report later.

Records and the Court System

Police records and court records are separate but connected systems. When the Stewart County Sheriff's Office makes an arrest, that creates a police record. When the case moves to court, the clerk of court begins a court file. If you need to track a case from the initial arrest through to its outcome, you will need records from both the sheriff's office and the Stewart County court system.

Stewart County is part of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit. The superior court handles felony cases. Magistrate court deals with preliminary hearings, warrants, and minor offenses. Court records are public and available through the clerk of court's office. These records are separate from what the sheriff's office holds and require a different request process.

Note: For cases that went to trial in Stewart County, the clerk of superior court is the office that holds sentencing records and case dispositions.

Nearby County Police Records

Stewart County shares borders with several other southwest Georgia counties. If an incident took place near a county line, the report might be in a neighboring county's system instead.