Morgan County Booking Reports
Morgan County booking reports come from the Morgan County Sheriff's Office in Madison, Georgia. Each report records the details of a person booked into the county jail, including their name, charges, and booking date. Morgan County does not offer a live online booking roster at this time. To look up a recent booking, contact the sheriff's office in Madison. For older records, a written Open Records request is the right step. This page explains what to expect from the process and what Georgia state tools can help you search further.
Morgan County Quick Facts
How to Access Morgan County Booking Records
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office in Madison is the primary keeper of local booking reports. Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7 requires every county sheriff to maintain a register for all persons booked into county custody. The register must include the person's name, age, sex, race, charges at booking, and the dates of intake and release. These records are public under Georgia law.
Morgan County does not currently post booking records online. Your options are to call the sheriff's office for a current booking or to file a written Open Records request for anything older. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., the sheriff must respond within three business days. The first 15 minutes of staff time for searching is provided at no charge. Additional time may be billed. Be specific in your request: include the person's name, any relevant dates, and the exact type of records you are looking for.
Court records tied to a Morgan County booking are separate from the sheriff's files. The Morgan County Superior Court Clerk in Madison holds case numbers, filing dates, hearing schedules, and case outcomes. If you need that information, contact the clerk's office directly.
What Morgan County Booking Data Includes
Each booking entry in the Morgan County jail register follows the format required by state law. It captures the name and basic identifying information of the person booked, the specific charges brought at the time of arrest, and the date and time the person entered the facility. The record also notes the date and time of release once the person leaves custody.
The booking report reflects what was known at the time of arrest. Charges can and do change as the case moves through the court system. A person booked on one charge may later face entirely different charges, or the case may be dismissed. The booking record does not update to reflect those later developments. It stays as a record of the arrest event. For updated case information, the court clerk is the right office to contact.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation FAQ page on how to get criminal history and arrest records in Georgia
The GBI FAQ explains how to access statewide criminal history records through GCIC, including data from Morgan County arrests and other Georgia jurisdictions.
Booking Photos and Georgia Law
Booking photos are often taken during the intake process. In Georgia, O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 restricts sheriffs from sharing booking photos with commercial mugshot websites. This law was passed to stop the practice of charging people to remove their photos from public sites. The Morgan County Sheriff follows this restriction.
If you have a legitimate need for a booking photo from Morgan County, you can request one through the Open Records process. Write to the sheriff's office in Madison and clearly explain your purpose. Exemptions under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 may apply in some cases, and the agency has some discretion in deciding what to release. Most routine requests that are not commercial in nature are handled without issue.
Georgia State Resources for Booking Searches
When county-level access is limited, Georgia's statewide tools fill the gap. The Georgia Department of Corrections maintains a database for people held in state prisons. That system is completely separate from the Morgan County Jail. If someone was sentenced and transferred to a GDC facility, the county will no longer show them. Use the GDC offender search to check state custody. The GDC query form allows searches by name or offender ID.
The GBI's Georgia Crime Information Center is the statewide criminal history system. GCIC holds data from law enforcement and court records across all 159 Georgia counties. It is more complete than a single county booking log. Appointments are required. No walk-ins. Reach the GBI at 404-244-2639 or visit the GCIC program page. As of January 2026, the Georgia Sheriffs' Association reports that Georgia county jails held about 25,487 inmates, with 67.9% of them awaiting trial.
VINE lets you track inmate status without calling the jail. Register at VINELink.com to get alerts by phone, text, or email when a Morgan County inmate's custody status changes. The service is free and covers all 159 Georgia counties.
Record Restriction Options in Georgia
Georgia offers two main ways to limit access to certain arrest records. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, people whose charges were dismissed, not prosecuted, or ended in acquittal can petition to have those charges restricted from public GCIC background reports. A restriction removes the record from what shows up in most background checks, but it does not delete the booking entry at the county jail.
The First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, allows courts to sentence first-time offenders without formally entering a conviction. When the person completes all conditions, the record is sealed at the GCIC level. This does not affect the booking record held by the Morgan County Sheriff. Both systems are independent of each other, and a change to one does not automatically carry over to the other.
Nearby Counties
Morgan County is in the Georgia piedmont region, bordered by several counties that each run their own jail systems.