Cherokee County Arrest Records

When law enforcement agents in Cherokee County, Alabama, conduct an arrest, they typically transport the arrestee to a detention facility (often the Cherokee County Jail) to hold them in custody pending bail or arraignment. During this process, the arrestee's personal information, fingerprints, and photographs are recorded to ensure that they are accurately identified and tracked during the justice process. A compilation of these information, now called an arrest record, are also valuable resources for the judiciary, attorneys, corporate bodies, and private individuals in the following ways:

• Prosecutors may use arrest records and related Cherokee county court records to build their cases by identifying repeat offenses or establishing patterns of behavior
• Defense attorneys may leverage arrest records to challenge the credibility of a prosecutor's case
• Arrest records aid jail administrators in the efficient management of jail facilities
• Corporate bodies, employers, and licensing bodies may use arrest records as part of their screening and evaluation processes
• Individuals may use arrest records to conduct a criminal background check for personal safety, relationship purposes, and business transactions
• Law teachers and students in case studies and academic researches
• Policy makers may use arrest records to inform policy decisions
• Many criminal statistical analyses have arrest records as their foundation

Are Arrest Records Public in Cherokee County?

Yes. Alabama's Open Records Law (§ 36-12-40 of the Alabama Code of 1975) stipulates that citizens have the right to inspect and make copies of documents of public writings of the state. Per § 41-13-1 of the Alabama Code, public records are defined to include all books, papers, letters and documents government agencies create or receive in the course of transacting public business. These statutory provisions make it clear that arrest records are public documents in Cherokee County and members of the public can request them at will.

However, the law also specifies exceptions to this general rule and they include:

• Juvenile law enforcement records
• Information whose release may hamper private or public security
• Sealed or expunged records
• Criminal history background information
• Information that reveals a security plan or procedure

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

The following information are obtainable in a typical Cherokee public arrest record:

• Arrestee's name, mugshot, booking number, age, gender, race, and address
• Booking date and time
• Release date and time
• Charges
• Arresting agency
• Bail information

Cherokee County Arrest Statistics

Data from Alabama's crime dashboard created by the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division of Alabama's Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) shows that 426 arrests were made for drug/narcotic offenses in 2023 (the most recent year with available statistics). Driving under the influence accounted for 93 arrests, 50 arrests were made for liquor law violations and 7 for disorderly conduct. The dashboard did not include arrest statistics for offenses against property and person.

Find Cherokee County Arrest Records

Cherokee County arrest records can be obtained during normal business hours at the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. Individuals are encouraged to visit the sheriff's office with adequate information about the sought records to enable officials locate them conveniently. The sheriff's office also maintains an online searchable database of individuals in the detention facility on its official website. To access the repository, interested parties should go to the inmate's section of the website and click on "current inmates". Records of persons released from the Cherokee County Detention Center within the last 48 hours can be obtained by clicking the "48 Hour Release" icon. Individuals should note that the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office does not accept record requests through emails.

An alternative for searching Cherokee County arrest records is via the Alabama Department of Corrections' (ADOC) online inmate search tool. This searchable database provides information about Cherokee County arrestees serving their sentences in a state detention facility. Individuals are to input the inmate's AIS number, first and last names to retrieve the needed information. Requesters may also fill out a public records request form and send it to the ADOC at the address below:

Alabama Criminal Justice Center
301 South Ripley Street
P.O. Box 301501
Montgomery, AL 36130-1501

Finally, the federal government makes Cherokee arrest records available to the public through the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate locator. However, these records are limited to information about Cherokee County arrestees serving prison terms in federal facilities.

Free Arrest Record Search in Cherokee County

The online platforms discussed above offer free record search services to requesters. Official offline channels, such as the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office also provide arrest records without costs if the requester needs to view them. However, copying or reproducing copies of records attract reasonable fees to cover the costs incurred in attending to the request.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Indefinitely. Arrest records in Cherokee County follow the subject throughout their lifetime. However, eligible persons can apply to have their records expunged, thereby erasing them permanently from public databases.

Expunge Cherokee County Arrest Records

Expungements in Alabama are provided for in sections 15 to 27 of the Code of Alabama, 1975. Per the state's expungement laws, individuals can only apply to expunge the following offenses:

• A misdemeanor criminal offense
• A violation
• A traffic violation
• A municipal ordinance violation
• A non-violent felony
• A few violent felonies

Furthermore, the applicant must show that their case falls under any of the following categories:

• The charge was dismissed without prejudice
• The grand jury "no-billed" the charge
• The charge resulted in a "not guilty" verdict
• In the case of a non-felony offense, 2 years must have passed from the time the charge was dismissed without prejudice, the charge must not have been refiled, and the applicant must not have been convicted for any offense, save for minor traffic violations, within the 2-year period
• For non-violent felonies that ended in a court-approved deferred prosecution program, 1 year must have passed since the completion of the program
• If the non-violent felony was dismissed without prejudice, the waiting period is 5 years and the applicant must show that the case was never refilled and they have not be convicted for any crime, excluding minor traffic infractions, within the period
• For non-violent felonies that was dismissed with prejudice, or resulted in no bill, acquittal and nolle prosequi, the waiting period is 90 days and the case must not have been refilled within that period
• If the applicant was a victim of human trafficking, there is proof that the offense was committed within the period they were trafficked and they would not have committed the offense if they were not trafficked (this typically applies to violent felonies)
• An indictment has been quashed and the statute of limitations for the offence has expired or the appropriate law enforcement agency has confirmed that the case will not be refilled

Note: More information on the requirements for expungement is outlined in the eligibility in the Petition for Expungement of Records form.

Eligible applicants are to obtain a certified copy of their criminal history record form from the ALEA by following the instructions in the Application to Review/ Challenge Alabama Criminal History Record form (ALEA CJIS Form 46). Next, they should complete the above Petition for Expungement of Records form and file it together with the Form 46 above and:

• A certified record of arrest from the appropriate agency for the court records sought to be expunged; or
• A certified record of disposition or the case action summary from the appropriate court

The above documents should be filed at the Cherokee County Circuit Court and copies served on all criminal justice agencies in custody of the records to be expunged.
If the district attorney or the victim files an objection to the expungement, a hearing will be set and the court will consider the facts and issues before it before deciding whether to grant or deny the order.

Cherokee County Arrest Warrants

Cherokee County arrest warrants are issued by a magistrate against someone who is suspected of committing a crime but is not yet in police custody. The warrant commands a law enforcement officer to apprehend the subject and bring them before a competent court.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office maintains a list of the most wanted persons on its official website. Individuals can leverage this platform to obtain information about outstanding arrest warrants. Interested parties may also contact the sheriff's office in person during regular work hours for details on a subject's arrest warrant.

Do Cherokee County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. There is no law in Alabama that imposes an expiry date on arrest warrants. This means that a law enforcement agent can legally arrest a subject at any time based on an unexecuted arrest warrant.