Search Alpharetta Criminal Court Records

Criminal court records in Alpharetta are held by two main courts. The Alpharetta Municipal Court handles city code cases, traffic tickets, and low-level misdemeanors that take place in city limits. More serious felony charges go through the Fulton County Superior Court in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. Alpharetta sits in north Fulton County, about 25 miles from downtown Atlanta. The city has grown fast in the past two decades, and the court system stays busy as a result. All court records are public under Georgia law, and you can get them in person, by mail, or through online tools run by the county and state.

Alpharetta Municipal Court Records

The Alpharetta Municipal Court handles local criminal matters in the city. This court hears traffic cases, city code violations, and misdemeanor offenses. It does not handle felonies. If someone was charged with a serious crime in Alpharetta, that case goes to Fulton County Superior Court instead.

The court is at 12624 Broadwell Road, Alpharetta, GA 30004. You can call (678) 297-6100 for case info. Walk-ins are welcome during normal business hours. Staff can pull up a case by name or case number. Bring a photo ID if you plan to ask for copies. The clerk will charge the standard copy fee set by state law.

Note: The municipal court shares some case data with Fulton County systems, but not all records show up in the county search tools.

Fulton County Criminal Court Records

Felony cases from Alpharetta are filed in the Fulton County Superior Court. This includes drug trafficking, armed robbery, assault, and other serious charges. The Atlanta Judicial Circuit covers all of Fulton County, so Alpharetta falls under the same circuit as Atlanta. The Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court keeps these records at the main courthouse in downtown Atlanta.

You can search Fulton County criminal records through the clerk's online eServices portal. Look up cases by defendant name, case number, or attorney. The system shows charges, court dates, case status, and filing history. Records from the Atlanta Judicial Circuit go back many years in this database. There is no charge to search. You only pay if you need copies.

The E-Access to Court Records portal from the Georgia courts is another free tool. It pulls case data from courts all over the state, including Fulton County. You need a free account to use it. Once logged in, you can search by name and filter by county or case type.

How to Search Records in Alpharetta

There are a few ways to look up criminal court records tied to Alpharetta. The right method depends on what you need and how fast you need it.

The GSCCCA indexes court filings from all 159 Georgia counties. You can search for Fulton County records through this tool. A basic account costs $14.95 per month. The GSCCCA also runs FANS, a free alert system that tells you when new filings show up under a name you are watching. This works for any county in the state.

For in-person lookups, head to the Alpharetta Municipal Court on Broadwell Road for city-level cases. For felonies, go to the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta. Bring the full name and date of birth of the person you need records for. A case number makes things go much faster. The clerk staff can pull records while you wait in most cases.

Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, copy fees are capped at $0.10 per page across all public offices in Georgia. The first 15 minutes of staff search time are free. If a request takes longer, the office can charge a reasonable labor fee. Large requests may take a few days to fill.

To get your own criminal history, you can ask the Alpharetta Police Department or the Fulton County Sheriff for a Purpose Code U report. This pulls data from the Georgia Crime Information Center and shows your arrest records, charges, and court outcomes statewide. You will need fingerprints and a valid ID.

Criminal Record Restrictions in Georgia

Georgia lets people restrict certain criminal records from public view. This is what used to be called expungement. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, you can ask to restrict records for arrests that did not end in conviction, some misdemeanor convictions after four years, and cases that sat on a dead docket for over 12 months. There is a lifetime cap of two misdemeanor restrictions.

For arrests in Alpharetta, you start the process through the Fulton County District Attorney's office if the arrest was on or after July 1, 2013. Older arrests go through the arresting agency. Agencies can charge up to $50 to process the restriction. Once the court grants the petition, the records are sealed from public searches under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 and related open records exemptions.

Trafficking victims may qualify for free record restriction under the Survivors First Act. There is no fee for this type of request. Speak with a local attorney or contact the GBI for details.

State Resources for Alpharetta Records

The GBI runs the state criminal history database. You can call (404) 244-2639 for help with criminal history questions. The GBI Open Records portal accepts requests online only. They stopped taking email requests in late 2023.

Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34, defense attorneys can request criminal history data from the GCIC by submitting a written request with the case style, case number, and identifying info. This is often used by lawyers handling cases out of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. Fees may be waived for indigent defendants.

The Alpharetta Police Department can also help with local arrest records. You can file an open records request with the department. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, the Georgia Open Records Act, any public agency must release records unless a specific exemption applies. The response time is three business days.

Nearby Cities

These cities near Alpharetta also have criminal court records resources. Each city runs its own municipal court, but felony cases go through the county where the offense took place.