White County Booking Reports and Arrest Records
White County booking reports are public records kept by the White County Sheriff's Office in Cleveland, Georgia. Every person brought into the county jail generates a booking record that documents the arrest and the charges filed. White County does not currently offer a public online inmate search portal. To find a current booking or request a copy of a record, you can contact the sheriff's office by phone or submit a formal Open Records request under Georgia law. This page covers how to access booking data, what the records contain, and what state tools are available to support your search.
White County Quick Facts
How to Search White County Booking Reports
The White County Sheriff's Office in Cleveland handles all jail operations and booking records for the county. All arrests brought into county custody pass through the intake process at the White County Detention Center. The sheriff's office does not maintain a live public roster online. To check on a booking, call the jail directly. Staff can often confirm whether someone is currently in custody and share basic booking details over the phone.
For copies of records or older booking data, you will need to submit a written Open Records request. Georgia's Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq.) gives you the right to those records, and the sheriff must respond within three business days. The first 15 minutes of staff search time is free under state law. Time spent beyond that threshold may result in a small hourly fee. Submit your request in writing, include the person's name and approximate booking date, and send it to the White County Sheriff's Office in Cleveland.
Note: White County sits in the north Georgia mountains and sees both local arrests and activity tied to the area's outdoor tourism. Bookings from visitors as well as residents pass through the same county jail system.
White County Booking Records and What They Include
Each booking at the White County Detention Center creates a record that meets the standards set by O.C.G.A. § 42-4-7. This statute requires the sheriff to record the full name, age, sex, and race of every person booked, the charges they came in on, and the date and time of their intake and release. These are the core data points you will find in any White County booking report.
Additional details that often appear in practice include the arresting agency, bond amount or bond type, and a case number tied to the court system. The White County Sheriff's Office makes most of the arrests in the county, though the Cleveland Police Department and Georgia State Patrol may also bring people to the jail. All of these come into the same county system. Booking photos are taken at intake. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19, Georgia law prevents law enforcement from sharing those photos with commercial mugshot websites. A legitimate records request to the sheriff can produce a photo, but the state restricts how that image can be sold or published.
State Resources That Cover White County
When local access is limited, several Georgia state systems can supplement a White County booking search. The Georgia Department of Corrections maintains a database of all state-sentenced inmates. Once someone is convicted in Superior Court and sent to a state prison, they leave the county system entirely. Use the GDC offender query form to search for state inmates by name. You can also reach the search from the GDC offender information page.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation operates GCIC, the Georgia Crime Information Center. This is the statewide criminal history database covering arrests and court records from all 159 counties. A GCIC record would include White County arrests alongside any other statewide contacts. Checking your own record requires a scheduled appointment at the GBI office. No walk-ins are allowed. Call 404-244-2639 or review the GCIC program page for details. The GBI also provides an FAQ on criminal history records that covers common questions about the appointment process and what to bring.
GBI GCIC program page for Georgia statewide criminal history records
GCIC holds statewide arrest and court records for all Georgia counties, including White County. Access requires an appointment at the GBI office in Decatur.
VINE Monitoring for White County Inmates
VINE is a free service that monitors inmate custody status across all 159 Georgia counties, including White County. Register at VINELink.com, choose the inmate you want to track, and select how you want to be notified. VINE sends alerts by phone, text, or email when a custody status changes. That could mean a release, a transfer to another facility, or another custody event.
For White County, where no public live roster exists, VINE gives you a passive way to stay informed without calling the jail. The service runs around the clock. It is free to use and does not require anything beyond a brief registration. Family members, attorneys, and others throughout Georgia use VINE regularly as a practical monitoring tool. It is particularly useful in smaller counties like White County where online jail data is not publicly posted.
Open Records and Record Restriction in White County
Georgia's Open Records Act, specifically O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, sets out the rules for public access to government records. Booking reports from the White County Jail are public documents in almost all situations. The narrow exemptions listed in the statute, things like active investigations or confidential informant information, do not typically apply to standard booking records. You have the right to request them, and the sheriff must respond within three business days.
Record restrictions can apply in some cases. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, arrests that were not prosecuted may be restricted from GCIC criminal history reports if the person successfully petitions for restriction. Under O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, those who completed probation under First Offender status may petition to have their conviction sealed. Both of these restrictions affect the statewide GCIC database, not the original booking entry in the jail log. The jail record documents the fact of the arrest. That entry is generally not subject to the same restriction rules as GCIC. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association jail report provides annual data on inmate populations across all Georgia counties, including smaller mountain counties like White County.
Nearby Counties
White County is in the north Georgia mountains. Its neighboring counties each operate independent jail and booking record systems.