Pierce County Jail Roster

Pierce County booking reports are public records created by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office every time someone is arrested and processed into the jail in Blackshear, Georgia. These records show the charges, booking date, and basic personal details for each person held at the facility. Georgia's Open Records Act makes these documents available to anyone who asks. You can contact the sheriff's office directly or submit a formal request to get copies of current or past booking records.

Who Keeps Jail Records in Pierce County

The Pierce County Sheriff's Office in Blackshear is the legal custodian of all jail and booking records for the county. This responsibility comes from O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7, which places the county jail under the sheriff's care and makes the sheriff the keeper of the records. Every arrest processed through the Pierce County Jail goes into the same record system, regardless of which agency made the arrest.

Pierce County is a rural county in southeast Georgia, part of the Waycross Judicial Circuit. The sheriff's patrol handles most local law enforcement activity, and the Blackshear Police Department serves the county seat. Georgia State Patrol troopers cover the highways through the county and may also bring arrestees to the county jail. All of those bookings end up in the same file.

Note: Pierce County is sometimes confused with Pierce County in other states. This page covers Pierce County, Georgia, with its seat at Blackshear.

How to Access Pierce County Booking Records

Calling the Pierce County Sheriff's Office is the quickest way to check on a current inmate. A phone call can confirm whether someone is in custody and give you basic information about why they were booked. For written copies or for records going back further in time, a Georgia Open Records Act request is the right approach.

Under the Open Records Act, agencies must respond to requests within three business days. The first 15 minutes of staff search time costs nothing. After that, agencies can charge for their time. You do not need to explain why you want the records. The request just needs to identify what you are looking for with reasonable specificity: the person's name, approximate date of arrest, and any other details that help narrow it down.

Online tools like VINE may include Pierce County inmates in their database. VINE allows name searches and lets users register for automatic notifications when an inmate's status changes. JailATM is another service that may carry Pierce County data depending on the jail's participation in that system.

What a Booking Record Includes

A Pierce County booking report typically contains the person's full legal name, date of birth, home address, the date and time they were processed into the jail, the charges at intake, the agency that made the arrest, and bond information. Mugshots are taken at booking and are generally part of the public record. Rules governing those photos are found at O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19.

Additional details in a booking file can include holds from other agencies, court dates, and housing assignments within the facility. If another county has a warrant out for the person, or if a federal agency has placed a detainer, that information will be noted in the booking record. These details can change as the case moves forward, so direct contact with the jail is always the best way to get up-to-date status.

Open Records Act and Public Access Rights

Georgia's Open Records Act makes most government records available to the public. Booking records for adults are clearly in that category. The fact of an arrest, the charges, the booking date, and the name of the person arrested are all public information. The exemptions at O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 cover things like ongoing investigations and victim details, but they do not apply to basic booking data.

Anyone can request Pierce County booking records. You do not need to be a lawyer, a journalist, or have any special standing. Georgia law treats every person as having the right to know what their government is doing. Jail records are a direct expression of law enforcement power, and public access to those records is a check on that power.

Georgia Statewide Resources for Criminal Records

For a broader picture of someone's criminal history that goes beyond Pierce County, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Crime Information Center is the statewide source. GCIC holds arrest and disposition records from law enforcement agencies across Georgia. You can reach the GBI at 404-244-2639 for information about how to access these records. A full GCIC record check for non-law-enforcement purposes generally requires the subject's consent.

The GBI GCIC is the central hub for statewide criminal records in Georgia, pulling together data from all county sheriff offices including Pierce County.

For cases that have moved into the court system, the Georgia Courts website provides a starting point for finding case information. Pierce County's circuit court handles felony matters, and the clerk of court maintains files for all cases that proceed past the initial arrest.

Record Restriction and First Offender Law

Georgia law provides ways to limit public access to certain old arrest records. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, a person can petition to restrict a record if charges were dropped, they were found not guilty, or other qualifying circumstances apply. Georgia's First Offender Act under O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 gives eligible first-time offenders a path to complete their sentence without a formal conviction, which can later be sealed from public view.

Neither of these options happens automatically. A person must go to court, file the proper paperwork, and get a judge to grant the restriction. Once that happens, the sheriff's office and other state agencies should no longer show that record in public searches. Private databases, however, may be slower to remove the information. Legal help is useful when dealing with records that persist after a restriction has been granted.

Note: Pierce County Superior Court in Blackshear handles record restriction petitions. The sheriff's office does not have authority to remove records on its own.

Nearby Counties

Pierce County is in southeast Georgia, near several counties along the coastal plain.