Find Chatham County Booking Releases

Chatham County booking releases are managed by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office at the jail facility on Carl Griffin Drive in Savannah, Georgia. The county has a population of more than 280,000 and serves as the main hub for coastal Georgia. Sheriff John T. Wilcher oversees all jail operations and booking records in Chatham County. The jail processes booking releases around the clock, with an average daily population of about 1,739 inmates. All Chatham County booking releases are public records under Georgia law, and the sheriff's office maintains them for public access.

Chatham County Sheriff's Office

The Chatham County Sheriff's Office runs the county jail and maintains all booking release records for the area. Sheriff John T. Wilcher leads the department. The main jail facility is at 1050 Carl Griffin Drive, Savannah, GA 31405. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM for walk-in inquiries. The booking line at 912-651-3700 is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Chatham County Sheriff's website shows department contacts and links to jail services.

This page is the starting point for finding Chatham County booking release records and jail contact information online.

Chatham County has several phone lines for different jail functions. The front lobby number is 912-652-7785. The shift commander can be reached at 912-652-7710. For general questions about Chatham County booking releases, call (912) 652-7609 or (912) 660-1012. The fax number is (912) 652-7660. With an average daily population of 1,739 inmates, the Chatham County jail is one of the busier facilities in the coastal region of Georgia.

Under O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7, Sheriff Wilcher is required by law to keep a record of all persons committed to the Chatham County jail. The statute says these records must include the inmate's name, age, sex, race, charge, commitment date, discharge date, and the courts involved. Every Chatham County booking release must be kept on file and open for public inspection.

Search Chatham County Booking Releases

To look up booking releases in Chatham County, you can contact the sheriff's office directly or use online state tools. The booking line at 912-651-3700 is available around the clock. Staff can tell you if someone is currently in custody at the Chatham County jail. They can also confirm recent releases. For historical records, a written request works best.

You can also search Chatham County booking releases through state databases. The GDC Offender Search covers anyone who was sentenced from Chatham County to a Georgia state prison. This tool lets you search by name or ID number for Chatham County cases. It shows current location, charges, and sentence details. If the person was held at the Chatham County jail and later moved to a state facility, GDC tracks them from that point on.

For Chatham County level records, call or visit the sheriff's office in person. Bring a photo ID and be ready to tell the Chatham County staff the name and approximate date of the booking you are looking for. The more details you can give about the Chatham County booking release you need, the faster staff can find the record. If you have a Chatham County case number, that helps even more.

Open Records for Chatham County Booking Releases

The Georgia Open Records Act gives you the legal right to get booking release records from Chatham County. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 says all public records held by state and county agencies are available for inspection and copying. Booking release records at the Chatham County jail are included under this law. You do not need to explain why you want the records. The law protects your right to access them.

Send your open records request in writing to: Chatham County Sheriff's Office, 1050 Carl Griffin Drive, Savannah, GA 31405. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number, and a clear description of the Chatham County booking releases you need. List specific names, dates, and booking numbers if you have them. The Chatham County agency must respond within three business days with records or a timeline for when they will be ready.

Standard copy fees in Chatham County are $0.10 per page. Search time is free for the first 15 minutes. After that, Chatham County charges the hourly rate of the lowest paid qualified employee. If total costs exceed $25, the Chatham County Sheriff's Office must give you a written estimate before starting. Prepayment may be needed if costs go above $500. Most Chatham County booking release requests are straightforward and cost very little.

Certain records can be withheld. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 lists the exemptions. Active investigation files, medical records, and information that could endanger someone are among the exempt categories. But basic Chatham County booking release data is public. Names, charges, booking dates, release dates, and bond amounts are nearly always available when you file a request.

Chatham County Jail Mail and Funds

Mail to inmates at the Chatham County jail goes through the JailATM system. All regular correspondence must be sent as postcards through JailATM's central processing center. The mailing address is: JailATM.com, Chatham County Jail, Inmate ID Number, Inmate Full Name, 925B Peachtree Street NE, Box 2062, Atlanta, GA 30309. JailATM scans the mail and delivers it to inmates electronically. This helps the Chatham County jail screen all incoming correspondence.

Money orders can be sent directly to the jail. Make the money order payable to Chatham County Sheriff's Office, Finance and Accounting Services. Include the Inmate ID Number and Inmate Full Name on the money order. Mail it to 1050 Carl Griffin Drive, Savannah, GA 31405. Funds go into the inmate's commissary account. Books and legal mail follow a different path. Send those items to: Inmate ID Number, Inmate Full Name, Chatham County Jail, 1074 Carl Griffin Drive, Savannah, GA 31405. Note the street address is slightly different for books and legal mail compared to money orders.

These details are separate from Chatham County booking releases but come up often when people search for someone at the Chatham County jail. If you need the Chatham County booking release record itself, that goes through the sheriff's office or an open records request.

How Chatham County Creates Booking Records

Every arrest in Chatham County results in a booking at the county jail. Police agencies across the county bring arrested persons to 1050 Carl Griffin Drive for intake. The booking process captures the person's identity, physical description, charges, and the arresting agency. Staff enter this data into the jail management system. A unique booking number is assigned. This is the start of a Chatham County booking release record.

After intake at the Chatham County jail, the person may be held pending a court hearing or may post bond. Bond hearings in Chatham County typically happen within 48 hours of arrest. A Chatham County magistrate or judge sets the bond amount based on the charges and the person's history. When the person leaves Chatham County custody, whether by bonding out, having charges dropped, or completing a sentence, the release gets logged. The Chatham County booking release record then shows both sides: when the person came in and when they went out.

With roughly 1,739 inmates in the jail on any given day, Chatham County generates a large number of booking release records every year. The jail booking line at 912-651-3700 runs all day and night because the intake process never stops. Weekend and holiday bookings are just as common as weekday ones. All of these jail records are public and subject to the same booking release rules under Georgia law. Every inmate booking at the Chatham County jail creates a release record that stays on file.

Booking Photos and Georgia Law

O.C.G.A. § 35-1-18 sets the rules for releasing booking photographs in Georgia. This statute applies to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and every other law enforcement agency in the state. Mugshots are not treated the same as basic booking data. The law puts extra conditions on when and how booking photos can be shared with the public.

If you need a booking photo from the Chatham County jail, you should file a formal open records request with the Chatham County Sheriff's Office. Cite O.C.G.A. § 35-1-18 and O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 in your request. The Chatham County office will review it and respond within three business days. Standard Chatham County booking release data like names, charges, and dates is simpler to get than photos. But both fall under the state's public records framework in Chatham County.

State Booking Release Resources for Chatham County

Several state tools connect to Chatham County booking releases and criminal records. The VINE notification system lets you track an offender's status for free. Register to get alerts when someone held at the Chatham County jail is released, transferred, or has a change in status. VINE covers jails and prisons across the state and is useful for staying informed without having to call the jail every day.

The Georgia Sheriffs' Association maintains a directory of all 159 county sheriffs in the state. The Chatham County listing shows Sheriff John T. Wilcher, the jail address, phone numbers, and a link to the department website. If you are trying to find booking release records across multiple Georgia counties, the association site helps you find the right contact for each one.

For state-level criminal history records, the GBI Open Records Portal handles requests to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI runs the Georgia Crime Information Center, which holds criminal history data on millions of offenders. If you need records that go beyond what the Chatham County Sheriff has on file, GBI may have additional information. Their portal accepts online submissions and tracks your request through the process.

The GDC Open Records Portal handles requests for Georgia Department of Corrections records. If someone went from the Chatham County jail to a state prison, GDC would have their records from that point forward. Both the GBI and GDC portals run on the GovQA system, so the submission process is similar for both.

Legal Basis for Chatham County Booking Records

Georgia law requires the Chatham County Sheriff to maintain booking release records and make them available to the public. The key statute is O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7. It says the sheriff "shall keep a record of all persons committed to jail." The law lists the specific data points that must be captured: name, age, sex, race, the process under which the person was committed, the court that issued it, the crime charged, commitment date, discharge date, the discharge order, and the court that issued the discharge.

The same statute says these records "shall be subject to examination by any person" under the Georgia Open Records Act. This means you can walk into the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and ask to see booking release records. You can also request copies by mail or through a written open records request. The law does not require you to give a reason. Anyone can access Chatham County booking releases regardless of whether they are connected to the case.

Cities in Chatham County

Chatham County includes Savannah and several smaller cities. All arrests in the county are processed at the Chatham County jail, and booking releases are maintained by the sheriff's office. City police departments handle arrests, but the county manages the booking records.

Other communities in Chatham County include Garden City, Bloomingdale, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Port Wentworth. All of these have their jail booking releases handled through the Chatham County Sheriff's Office in Savannah. Inmate records for every arrest in these areas go into the Chatham County booking release system.

Nearby Counties

These counties are near Chatham County in the coastal Georgia region. Each one maintains its own jail booking release records at the local sheriff's office. If the arrest and booking happened outside Chatham County, check the neighboring county jail where the inmate was processed.