Marion County Booking Release Records

Marion County booking releases are managed by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, located in Buena Vista. This small, rural county sits in west-central Georgia and processes all jail bookings through one facility. The sheriff's staff handles intake, booking, and release for everyone arrested within the county. Because Marion County has a small population, the volume of bookings is low, but the same Georgia laws that govern bigger counties apply here. You can find booking release information by reaching out to the sheriff's office or checking state-level databases.

Sheriff's Office and Booking Records

The Marion County Sheriff's Office handles all jail records in the county. The office is in Buena Vista, and staff can take your calls during normal hours. The sheriff runs the jail and keeps the booking log as required by state law. Every arrest in Marion County that leads to a jail stay gets recorded in the system.

Georgia law at O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7 says the sheriff must maintain a record of each person held in the county jail. The record must include the inmate's name, charges, booking date, and release date. Marion County follows this rule. Even brief holds of just a few hours create a booking record that stays on file.

The jail in Marion County is small. At times, inmates may need to be housed in a nearby county's facility if space is tight. The booking record still belongs to Marion County in those cases. The receiving county would have its own transfer records, but the original booking is kept in Buena Vista.

How to Find Booking Releases

Calling the Marion County Sheriff's Office is the most direct way to find booking release records. Give the staff the person's name and any other details you have. They can check the system for a match. This works for both current inmates and people who have already been released from the jail.

Online search options are limited in small counties like Marion. The sheriff may not run a full inmate search portal on the web. In that case, phone and in-person requests are your main options. If you are in the area, stop by the office in Buena Vista during business hours.

The GBI's GCIC division manages criminal history records at the state level, which can include booking data from Marion County.

Criminal history data maintained by the GCIC can include records from Marion County bookings and arrests across all Georgia counties.

For broader searches, the GDC offender search shows everyone in the Georgia state prison system. If someone was booked in Marion County and later went to state prison, you can find them there. The VINE system also covers Marion County and lets you track custody changes for free.

Open Records Requests

The Georgia Open Records Act at O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 gives you the right to request booking release records from the Marion County Sheriff's Office. You do not need to give a reason. Write up your request with the person's name and send it to the office in Buena Vista.

Marion County has three business days to respond to your request. The first 15 minutes of search time costs nothing. Copies run $0.10 per page. If the request is complex or covers many records, the county may charge for extra staff time. For a single booking release, the total cost is usually low.

Some records may be exempt under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72. Records linked to open investigations, juvenile cases, and sealed court orders can be withheld. For most adult booking releases in Marion County, the records are public and available.

What Booking Releases Contain

Marion County booking release records list the inmate's full name, date of birth, physical description, booking date, charges, arresting agency, and bond information. The release section of the record shows when the person left custody and how. Release types include bond, time served, transfer, and dismissal.

Booking photos are governed by O.C.G.A. § 35-1-18. This law sets rules for how mugshots can be shared. Marion County follows these rules when handling requests for booking photographs. Restrictions may apply depending on the outcome of the case.

Statewide Booking Release Resources

State databases can help when Marion County records alone are not enough. The GDC offender search shows state prison inmates. The GDC Open Records portal and the GBI Open Records portal both accept formal requests online.

These tools track your request from submission to completion. They are free to search. Using them together with Marion County records helps you build a complete picture, especially if the person moved from the county jail into the state prison system.

Nearby Counties

Marion County is surrounded by other counties in west-central Georgia. If the arrest happened outside Marion County, check the county where it took place for booking release records.