Search Bacon County Busted Mugshots

Bacon County is a small rural county in south Georgia with Alma as its county seat, and the Bacon County Sheriff's Office is the local authority for arrest records and busted mugshots. This page covers where to find booking data, what statewide tools cover Bacon County, and how Georgia law shapes access to mugshots.

Bacon County Sheriff and Jail Booking Records

The Bacon County Sheriff's Office in Alma processes all local arrests and generates the booking records that make up the county's arrest history. When someone is taken into custody, the jail creates a record with their name, charges, arresting agency, and booking date. Georgia law makes these records public. The sheriff cannot post booking photos online, which is a statewide rule, but the office can provide records and photos in response to a formal request.

Because Bacon County is a smaller county, the sheriff's office handles a lower daily volume of bookings than counties with larger cities. That means fewer records to sort through but also fewer dedicated staff handling public records requests. A direct call to the office is usually the quickest way to confirm whether someone is in custody. For full records or photos, a written request speeds things along.

Alma is the only city in Bacon County of any size. The county jail is the only local detention facility, so all bookings flow through one location. There is no municipal police department in a separate city running its own jail. That simplifies the search process: one office, one set of records, one point of contact for everything in Bacon County.

The screenshot below shows the GBI open records request portal, which supplements local sheriff resources when you need state-level arrest data for Bacon County.

The GBI portal accepts requests for state-held criminal history files and other records that go beyond what the Bacon County Sheriff maintains locally.

Statewide Databases for Bacon County Arrest Records

You have several options for finding Bacon County arrest and conviction records through state tools. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation runs the Georgia Crime Information Center, known as GCIC. This database holds criminal history records for every Georgia county. A formal GCIC background check covers arrests and dispositions, not just final convictions. If you need a comprehensive record, a GCIC request through the GBI is the most complete option available at the state level.

The Georgia Felon Search is fast and costs just $15. It draws from state conviction records and gives you an instant result through the official georgia.gov portal. For a quick felony check tied to a Bacon County case or any other county, this is an efficient starting point. It will not show arrests without convictions, but for conviction history it is a solid tool.

The Georgia Department of Corrections offender search is free and includes photos of state prison inmates. If someone arrested in Bacon County was later convicted and sent to state prison, they may appear in the GDC database. This tool is separate from the local jail roster, but it is useful for tracking post-conviction status and verifying whether a person is still in state custody.

The screenshot below shows the Georgia Felon Search service, a $15 tool that returns instant felony conviction records from the state system.

The Felon Search service is run through the official georgia.gov portal and pulls from state-maintained conviction records covering all 159 Georgia counties.

Georgia Laws on Booking Photos and Mugshot Removal

Georgia passed two laws in the early 2010s that directly affect how you access and challenge Bacon County busted mugshots. O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 was signed in 2014 and bars law enforcement from posting booking photos online. This is why the Bacon County Sheriff's Office does not publish mugshots on its website. The photos still exist and are still public records. You just have to ask for them through a formal request rather than pulling them from an online roster.

The second law is O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.5, aimed at commercial mugshot websites. If a site published your booking photo and wants money to remove it, that is a violation of Georgia law. Send a certified letter demanding removal. The site must comply within 30 days at no cost to you. The Georgia Consumer Protection Division has a step-by-step removal guide that is free to use. The law applies to for-profit websites, not to news sites or government databases.

The Georgia Open Records Act at O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 sets the response deadline at three business days. The first 15 minutes of staff search time is free. The first 20 pages of documents cost nothing. Pages beyond 20 are $0.10 each. These rules apply uniformly to all Georgia agencies, including the Bacon County Sheriff's Office.

Sex Offender Registry and GBI Resources for Bacon County

The Georgia Sex Offender Registry is a free tool run by the GBI. It lets you search by name or by location and shows registered sex offenders in Bacon County and across the state. Photos are included where available. This is one of the most widely used free tools for criminal background checks in Georgia. No account or fee is needed to search the registry.

The GBI's open records portal gives you access to state-level records beyond what the sheriff holds locally. You can submit and track requests online. If a Bacon County case involved state investigators, went to a state court, or produced GBI records, this portal is the place to request them. The same Open Records Act rules apply: three business day response window, same fee schedule.

The screenshot below shows the Georgia Sex Offender Registry search page, a free tool maintained by the GBI that covers all registered offenders in Bacon County.

The registry is updated regularly and is one of the few databases that shows photos of individuals at no cost and without a formal records request.

Requesting Bacon County Arrest Records and Mugshots

For a booking photo or arrest record from the Bacon County jail, start with the Bacon County Sheriff's Office in Alma. Call ahead or visit in person during business hours. You can also send a written request by mail. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, the office must respond within three business days. Include the person's full name and, if possible, the booking date or case number to help staff locate the record without running up fees.

For state-level records, use the GBI open records portal. Requests submitted through this online system are tracked and responded to in writing. If the case you are researching moved to a state court or involved a GBI investigation, the portal may have records that the sheriff's office does not hold. Response times and fees follow the same state law rules as county agencies.

Mugshots are public records in Georgia. The 2014 law bars agencies from posting them online, but it does not seal them from public view. Any person can request a booking photo through the open records process. If you have concerns about a photo appearing on a commercial website, the Consumer Protection Division guidance is a good first read. Georgia law gives you clear rights to demand free removal from sites that operate as paid-removal services.

Cities in Bacon County

No city in Bacon County meets the 25,000 population threshold for a dedicated page on this site. For arrest records in Alma or elsewhere in Bacon County, contact the Bacon County Sheriff's Office directly.

Nearby Counties

Bacon County shares borders with several south Georgia counties, each with its own arrest record resources.