Chattooga County Background Check

A Chattooga County background check can be run through the sheriff's office in Summerville or through Georgia's statewide criminal history tools. Chattooga County is a rural county in northwest Georgia that borders Alabama to the west. The sheriff's office is the primary local resource for background check requests. You can also search online using the GBI's Felon Search or get fingerprinted through the GAPS system. This page covers every way to get a background check in Chattooga County, what information these records contain, and the Georgia laws that determine who can access criminal history data.

Chattooga County Sheriff Background Check

Sheriff Mark Schrader leads the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office at 533 Underwood Drive, Trion, GA 30753. Note that the office is in Trion, not in the county seat of Summerville. The phone number is 706-857-3411. Call before you visit to check their hours for processing background checks. Not every hour is set aside for record requests at smaller offices like this one. Bring a valid photo ID when you come in. A Georgia driver's license, US passport, or military ID all work for a Chattooga County background check.

You fill out a form at the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office. It asks for your name, date of birth, and other identifying details. Staff runs the search through the state criminal history database. Fees in Chattooga County range from $15 to $20. Cash is your safest payment option. State law caps any background check fee at $20 per person.

The Chattooga County Sheriff's Office is a small operation. That can work in your favor since wait times tend to be shorter than at bigger county offices. But it also means you should call to make sure staff is available before making the trip.

Search Chattooga County Records Online

People in Chattooga County can check for felony convictions online. The Georgia Felon Search is the tool for that. It costs $15 per search. Enter the person's name, date of birth, race, and sex. Results arrive by email in minutes. The Felon Search only shows felony convictions. Misdemeanor charges, arrests without convictions, and sealed first offender cases are not included. The $15 fee is charged regardless of whether a record is found.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation website has all the links to statewide background check tools for Chattooga County residents.

From the GBI site you can get to the GCIC, Felon Search, and GAPS fingerprint system that anyone in Chattooga County can use.

For a more reliable check, use the GAPS fingerprint system through IdentoGO. You register online, find a fingerprinting location near Chattooga County, and get your prints taken. Results come back within 24 to 48 hours. The nearest IdentoGO sites may be in Rome or the Dalton area. Fingerprint checks match prints against GCIC records directly, which is more accurate than searching by name alone. You need a service code from the requesting agency before you can register for a Chattooga County fingerprint background check.

Chattooga County Background Check Law

All background checks in Chattooga County are governed by Georgia state law. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34 is the main statute. It says the GBI can release criminal history records to private persons under certain conditions. To get someone else's full background check in Chattooga County, you need their written consent on a GCIC-prescribed form. The form requires their name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. Without consent, only felony convictions are available through the Felon Search portal.

The maximum fee for a background check is $20 per person in Chattooga County or anywhere else in Georgia. This cap is set by state law and applies at every sheriff's office.

Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, some criminal records in Chattooga County get restricted over time. Misdemeanor arrests not sent to a prosecutor restrict after two years. Felony arrests that were never prosecuted restrict after four years. Violent felony arrests take seven years before restriction applies. Restricted records drop off standard background checks in Chattooga County. Only judges, criminal justice agencies, and law enforcement can still view them. You can petition to restrict certain misdemeanor convictions too, after finishing your sentence and going four years without new charges.

Note: Chattooga County residents who petition for record restriction can only do so twice in their lifetime under Georgia law.

GCIC and Chattooga County Records

The Georgia Crime Information Center holds all criminal history data from Chattooga County. Arrests by the sheriff's office and court results from the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit feed into the GCIC system. Any background check in Chattooga County pulls from this statewide database. Records from other counties show up too since it is all one system.

To fix an error on your Chattooga County background check, you start with the submitting agency. They must send a correction to GCIC on official letterhead. Your request should include your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, race, sex, and the arrest date in question. GCIC has 60 days to respond. If they say no, you can take the issue to court for review.

The First Offender Act under O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 lets some first-time offenders in Chattooga County have their case sealed after completing probation. Once sealed, it will not appear on a standard background check. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association has a full directory if you need to find contact details for the Chattooga County Sheriff or nearby offices.

Counties Near Chattooga County

Chattooga County shares borders with several other counties in northwest Georgia. Each has a sheriff who can process background checks through the same state system.