Access Brooks County Police Blotter

Police blotter records for Brooks County are held at the sheriff's office in Quitman. This south Georgia county sits near the Florida border, and the sheriff's department handles all law enforcement for the unincorporated areas. You can search for police blotter entries, arrest records, and incident reports by contacting the Brooks County Sheriff's Office. Georgia's Open Records Act protects your right to access these files. State databases hold extra records from the Georgia State Patrol and other agencies that operate in Brooks County. Getting blotter data here means going local first, then checking state resources for anything the county does not have.

Brooks County Police Blotter Office

Sheriff Mike Dewey leads the Brooks County Sheriff's Office. The department operates from Holloway Drive in Quitman. Deputies respond to calls across the county, and each one gets logged in the police blotter. The blotter is a running record of all activity. It tracks dates, times, call types, locations, and outcomes. Arrest entries include the name of the person booked, the charges, and the deputy who made the arrest in Brooks County.

You can get copies of police blotter records by calling the office or stopping in during business hours. The staff handles requests under Georgia's Open Records Act. Most blotter entries are straightforward and can be pulled quickly. For larger requests covering a date range or multiple people, the office may need a day or two to gather everything from Brooks County files.

Brooks County Police Blotter Records

The Georgia Open Records Act is what gives you access to police blotter data in Brooks County. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, any document that a government agency creates or keeps is a public record. That includes the daily blotter, arrest logs, and incident reports from the Brooks County Sheriff's Office. You do not need to be a Brooks County resident to make a request. You do not need to explain why you want the records either.

The agency must respond within three business days. That is the law under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71. Copies of records run up to 10 cents per page. If the search takes staff time past the first quarter hour, they can charge for that at the rate of the lowest-paid worker who can do the task. For a simple blotter request in Brooks County, the fees are usually small.

Written requests work best. Put your name, phone number, and a clear description of the police blotter records you need in a letter. Send it to the sheriff's office at the address above. Email works too if the office accepts it. Call first to check their preferred method in Brooks County.

State Police Blotter Tools for Brooks County

Georgia runs a few databases that hold police blotter type records from Brooks County. The EPORTS system from the Department of Public Safety stores crash reports, incident reports, and citations written by the Georgia State Patrol. If a trooper made a stop on US-84 or US-221 in Brooks County, you can find that report in EPORTS. Incident reports cost $2.00 and crash reports cost $5.00.

The GBI Records Request Center handles open records requests at the state level. If the GBI investigated a case in Brooks County, you submit your request through their portal. The GBI also tracks statewide crime data through the Uniform Crime Reporting program. Over 600 agencies across Georgia, including Brooks County law enforcement, send monthly crime stats to the GBI.

The GBI portal shown above lets you submit and track open records requests for state-level law enforcement records that may involve Brooks County cases.

Note: The GBI does not handle local police blotter requests directly. Start with the Brooks County Sheriff for local records.

Exemptions for Brooks County Records

Most police blotter records in Brooks County are fully public. But Georgia law does allow agencies to hold back some material. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, records from active investigations can be withheld until the case closes. That means if an arrest in Brooks County is still being prosecuted, the investigative file behind it may not be available. The basic blotter entry and arrest record are usually still public even in those cases.

Crash reports from Brooks County have a special rule. You need to provide a statement of need that shows a personal, professional, or business connection to the accident. This requirement comes from O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(5). It applies to all crash reports in Georgia, not just Brooks County ones. Personal information like phone numbers and dates of birth get redacted from public copies of police blotter records.

Brooks County Corrections Records

If someone from Brooks County ended up in state prison, you can look them up on the Georgia Department of Corrections offender search. This free tool shows current inmates with photos, charges, and facility information. It only covers people in state prison, not the local jail in Brooks County.

Criminal history records are separate from police blotter data. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34, most criminal history information beyond Georgia felony convictions needs the subject's consent. The GBI manages criminal history checks through the Georgia Crime Information Center. If you need your own record, you can request it there.

The GDC warns that their data may not be complete. Verify any results you find through written correspondence with their office in Forsyth, Georgia, before treating Brooks County offender data as final.

Cities in Brooks County

Quitman is the county seat and largest community in Brooks County. Morven and Pavo are smaller towns in the area. None meet the population threshold for a separate page. Police blotter records for areas outside city limits come from the Brooks County Sheriff. For calls inside a town's limits, contact that town's police department.

Nearby Counties

Brooks County borders these Georgia counties and also touches the Florida state line to the south. Check neighboring offices if an incident happened close to a county boundary.