Find Booking Reports in Hinesville
Hinesville booking reports are held by the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. Hinesville is the county seat of Liberty County and home to about 36,500 residents, many tied to Fort Stewart, the U.S. Army installation just outside the city. Arrests made in Hinesville, whether by city police or county deputies, result in booking records at the Liberty County Detention Center. This page explains how to search those records, what they contain, and what Georgia law says about public access.
Hinesville Quick Facts
Liberty County Sheriff and Hinesville Arrests
The Liberty County Sheriff's Office is the main keeper of booking records for all arrests in and around Hinesville. The Sheriff's Office can be reached at 912-368-3911. Under O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7, Georgia sheriffs are required by law to keep jail records, which includes booking reports for everyone who passes through their facility. This duty falls squarely on the Liberty County Sheriff for Hinesville arrests.
When someone is arrested in Hinesville, they are taken to the Liberty County Detention Center for processing. The booking process creates a formal record that includes the person's name, charges, date of arrest, physical description, and booking photograph. These records are maintained by the Sheriff's Office and are generally available to the public under Georgia's open records laws.
The Liberty County Sheriff's Office website experienced technical issues at the time this page was written. If the online portal is unavailable, contact the Sheriff's Office directly at 912-368-3911 to ask about current inmate status or to request a booking report. Staff can confirm whether someone is currently in custody and walk you through the process of getting a formal copy of the record.
Hinesville Police Department
The Hinesville Police Department handles law enforcement inside the city. Their number is 912-368-8211. Officers respond to calls, make arrests, and issue citations, but they do not operate their own detention facility. Everyone arrested by Hinesville Police goes to the Liberty County Detention Center for booking. This means all Hinesville booking reports are stored at the county level, not at city police headquarters.
The City of Hinesville website at cityofhinesville.org provides general city services information. For arrest records and booking data, contact the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. The city police can confirm details about a specific incident they handled, but the booking record itself lives at the detention center.
How to Get Hinesville Booking Reports
Georgia's Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., gives the public the right to access booking records. You do not need to explain why you want the record. You just need to make a written request. The Liberty County Sheriff's Office must respond within three business days. If they deny the request, they must tell you which legal exemption applies.
You can submit an open records request by mail, email, or in person. Address the request to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office records division. Include the name of the person you are looking for, the approximate date of arrest if you know it, and your contact information. The office will tell you if there is a fee for copying the records. Most basic booking reports cost only a few cents per page.
Exemptions to the Open Records Act are listed in O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72. Active investigations may be partially withheld. Information that could endanger a person's safety can be redacted. But most booking data, including names, charges, and booking dates, is public. An arrest is a public act, and the records that document it are open.
Note: If the Sheriff's Office website is down, call 912-368-3911 to request a booking record by phone or to learn the correct mailing address for written requests.
What a Hinesville Booking Report Contains
A booking report captures what happens when a person enters the Liberty County Detention Center after an arrest in the Hinesville area. The document is created at intake and reflects the state of the arrest at that moment. It is separate from court records, which are maintained by the Liberty County Superior Court and show how the case moved forward.
A standard Hinesville booking report includes the full legal name of the person arrested, their date of birth, physical description including height and weight, the charges filed at the time of arrest, the arresting agency, date and time of booking, bond amount or hold status, and the booking photograph. Some records also include a jail ID number and housing assignment within the detention center.
Booking Photo Rules in Georgia
Georgia law specifically addresses booking photographs. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19, law enforcement agencies cannot charge a fee to release a booking photo to someone who asks for it, unless the person intends to use the photo for commercial gain. This law was passed in response to websites that posted mugshots and then charged people to remove them. If you need a Hinesville booking photograph for a legitimate purpose, the Liberty County Sheriff's Office should provide it at no cost.
The same statute restricts what private websites can do with booking photos. If you find a Hinesville booking photo posted on a third-party website that demands payment for removal, that site may be violating Georgia law. Consulting a Georgia attorney familiar with this statute may help if you are dealing with that situation.
Inmate Notification and Family Services
VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) is a free tool for families and victims. You can register at vinelink.com to get alerts when an inmate's status changes at the Liberty County Detention Center. VINE notifies you if the person is released, transferred, or escapes. Sign up online or call the VINE hotline listed on the website.
For people serving state prison sentences rather than being held in the county jail, the Georgia Department of Corrections runs a separate offender search at services.gdc.ga.gov. If someone arrested in Hinesville receives a state sentence, they are moved from the Liberty County Detention Center to a GDC facility. The GDC database is where you would track them after that transfer. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Georgia Crime Information Center also maintains statewide criminal history records.
Record Restriction for Hinesville Arrests
Some Hinesville residents may be able to restrict access to their arrest records. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 provides a process for record restriction, sometimes called expungement, when an arrest did not lead to a conviction or when charges were dropped. A restricted record does not appear in most public background searches. The person must apply through the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and meet specific eligibility requirements.
Georgia's First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, offers another path. A first-time offender who completes all terms of their sentence may have the conviction treated as no conviction under the law. The record still exists in restricted form but is not visible to most who search public records. If you search for a Hinesville booking report and find nothing, the record may have been restricted under one of these statutes. The GBI's Georgia Crime Information Center handles formal restriction requests.
Liberty County Booking Reports
Hinesville is the county seat of Liberty County, and all local booking records are managed by the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. For county-wide information on booking reports, detention center contacts, and open records procedures, visit the Liberty County page.