Georgia Warrant Search

Title 17 of the Georgia Statutes deals with criminal procedure and chapter 4 of this code lays down the rules for the arrest of a person. Because arrest warrants play an integral role when a person must be committed to custody, these judicial orders are discussed in a separate article.

OCGA 17-4-40 explains that any officer of the judiciary who has been clothed by the penal laws to possess the authority of a magistrate can issue an arrest warrant. In this case, an arrest warrant refers to any order for detention issued by a tribunal, be it a bench warrant or an active warrant released in conjunction with a criminal matter.

The protocol surrounding the issue of an active warrant

When the affiant, who is filing a petition for the issue of a warrant in a criminal case, is a police officer, the order will be granted almost instantly if there are enough grounds to prove probable cause. On the other hand, if the complainant is a civilian, there is a slight difference in the procedure.

Once the tribunal receives the petition for the warrant from a victim, a warrant application hearing is scheduled, and the alleged offender in whose name the warrant is being sought is notified of this. It is crucial to understand here that the notification is not akin to a summons which is an order for appearance in court.

If the defendant chooses to ignore this notice and fails to show up in court, this is duly noted. What follows is the general process for the establishment of probable cause. The warrant will be issued as long as the complainant can prove to any reasonable person that a crime was actually committed and the alleged suspect was a participant in the act based on witness testimony and hard proof.

If the defendant does show up for this court session, he will be given a chance to cross-examine the witnesses and shoot down claims made by the affiant. If probable cause is proven, the judge will order the detention of the accused.

In contrast, when it comes to search warrants from GA, only police officers have been given the right to apply for these. As far as bench warrants go, the magistrate issues these without receiving a complaint; these are released against people who fail to show up for a court hearing as ordered.

An outstanding warrant is another name given to a detention directive issued in a criminal matter. In terms of their powers, outstanding warrants are the same as active orders; the only difference here is that it has stayed in the police database for a lot longer than an active order

Georgia Criminal Records

There are two ways to look for information on criminal data like arrest records and warrants in the state of Georgia. If you are an employer who needs to avail of the Georgia applicant processing service, you can go to the website of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at the Obtaining Criminal History Record Information Frequently Asked Questions page here.

Connecting with the Georgia Crime Information Center through this site will help you access arrest records and conviction details for prospective employees. Still, also you can get a personal background check done through this source. If you are interested in crime record expungement, the GCIC is the department to connect with again.

However, for this, you will have to visit the agency office in person and have your fingerprints taken. You can go to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, 3121 Panthersville Road, Decatur, Georgia 30034. You can also get in touch with the agency over the phone by dialing 404-244-2639 or you can write to them at [email protected].

Applicants will be charged about $20 for crime history records whether they go through the GBI or through their local law enforcement office. In fact, the GCIC recommends that you get in touch with the sheriff’s department or the clerk of court’s office in your county for criminal data including a most wanted list. The county clerk’s office maintains the court dockets in a separate database. The simplest way to access these court records is by using the public service terminals at your local justice center.

If an online inquiry appeals more to you, you can try the GBI felon search facility here. Remember that while these sources will offer information on crime data, only warrants and information on arrests that pertain to cases that ended in conviction will be displayed for applicants. Also, the information provided will be limited to criminal occurrences that took place in the state of Georgia.