Jackson County Arrest Records

Jackson County arrest records are official documents detailing arrest events that occurred in the county. Arrest records are prepared by law enforcement agencies when booking arrestees. Such agencies include the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the various police departments in the county, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). Each of these agencies has its jail for detaining arrestees. When detainees are charged to court, their arrest records are used by court officials to prepare the introductory Jackson County court records of the cases.

Are Arrest Records Public in Jackson County?

Yes. Sections 36-12-40 to 36-12-45 of the Code of Alabama authorizes public access to arrest records in the state. In accordance with the state’s law on public records access, law enforcement officers must make arrest records available upon request except for confidential records. Examples of publicly unavailable or restricted arrest records in Jackson County are:

• Sealed or expunged records
• Juvenile arrest records
• Arrest records identifying victims of abuse
• Arrest records containing protected details of ongoing investigations

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

A complete arrest record identifies the arrestee and arresting officers and also provides details about the arrest event itself. A Jackson County arrest record should include the following:

• Arrestee’s name, sex, race, and age
• Arrestee’s mugshot
• Identity of the officer(s) of the law that made the arrest
• Law enforcement represented by the arresting officer(s)
• Reason for the arrest
• Where the arrest took place
• Date and time of the arrest
• Jail where the arrestee is being held

Jackson County Arrest Statistics

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency publishes annual crime and arrest data for all the counties in the state. Its recent annual report shows that a total of 246 arrests were recorded in Jackson County in 2023. This figure includes 244 adult arrests and 2 juvenile arrests. The number of arrestees in Jackson County jails vary from one law enforcement agency to another. The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) publishes monthly statistical reports on the state’s prison populations. Its August 2024 report mentioned that there 21 inmates transferred from the Jackson County jail to ADOC facilities.

Find Jackson County Arrest Records

To locate a Jackson County arrestee, you can search for their record at county, state, and federal detention facilities. For example, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office provides an inmate roster on its website for looking up arrestees and detainees in its county jail. Inmates remanded in state prisons are under the care of the ADOC. You can locate an individual arrested in Jackson County and then transferred to one of these facilities with the Inmate Search tool provided on ADOC’s website. If an individual was arrested in Jackson County by federal law enforcement officers, they would likely be held at a federal detention center. You can locate this detainee with the inmate locator tool of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Free Arrest Record Search in Jackson County

Anyone can use the inmate lookup tools provided by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Alabama Department of Corrections, and the Bureau of Prisons to freely search for inmates. These official resources are updated regularly and provide the most complete arrest records. Free third-party arrest record search tools are also available. These locator services usually offer single search tools that query multiple detention facility databases when finding inmates. They can save you time especially when you are not certain where to start looking for an arrest record or finding an arrestee. However, their search results may be limited and should be checked against official sources.

Jackson County Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

In Jackson County, an arrest record is a document prepared by a law enforcement agency when booking an arrestee. This official record only describes a specific arrest event. A criminal record, on the other hand, a comprehensive history of an individual’s engagement with various arms of the criminal justice system. A Jackson County criminal record will include all of the subject’s criminal arrests as well as the charges, prosecutions, sentencing, acquittals, and/or incarceration resulting from these arrests.

While a police department or the Sheriff’s Office in the county can provide an arrest record, a complete Jackson County criminal record can only be provided by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) upon requesting a background check.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

An arrest stays forever on your record in Jackson County, unless you successfully obtain a court order to expunge the record of the arrest.

Expunge Jackson County Arrest Records

Before seeking to expunge your Jackson County arrest record, you should determine that the charge/offense qualifies for expungement and that the required waiting period has elapsed as spelled out in Sections 15-27-1 and 15-27-2 of the Code of Alabama. The first step to expunging a Jackson County arrest record is obtaining a certified copy of your criminal record from ALEA. You can do this by following the instructions provided on the Application to Review/Challenge Alabama Criminal History Form. Next, you need to complete and file a Petition for Expungement of Records at the Jackson County Circuit Court. You will be required to pay the court a filing fee, usually $500, when submitting your petition.

In addition to the court, you will also be required to serve this petition to the District Attorney’s Office as well as the law enforcement agency that made the arrest in question. After filing this petition with the Circuit Court, the prosecutor is given a set time, up to 45 days, to object. If there is an objection, the court will set a hearing date to hear from both parties. If the court grants your petition, it will issue an order to expunge the arrest record.

Jackson County Arrest Warrants

A Jackson County arrest warrant is a court document that authorizes officers of the law to apprehend and detain the person named on the document. To be valid, an arrest warrant must be signed by a judge. When law enforcement officers seek a warrant to arrest a suspect or person of interest discovered during their investigation, they must provide probable cause for the arrest to convince the judge to sign an arrest warrant.

An approved Jackson County arrest warrant will contain the following details:

• A named individual to be arrested
• Reason provided for the arrest
• Judge’s signature and name
• The court in the court where the arrestee must appear
• Date of issue of the arrest warrant

Do Jackson County Arrest Warrants Expire?

An active Jackson County arrest warrant remains enforceable until the subject of the warrant is arrested or appears in the court of record. Besides these conditions, an arrest warrant may also be voided in Alabama if the court recalls it and a judge quashes it.