LibGuides: Social Justice Resource Guide: Local Resources

ACC Arrest Record Restriction Assistance

For specific cases in Athens-Clarke County, you may be eligible to restrict your criminal record from public view. Restricting criminal arrest records for non-criminal justice purposes might help you get a job or housing and a clean start.

Below is a webinar video recorded in conjunction with the University of Georgia School of Law Public Interest Practicum on Record Restriction.

Campus Resources

Resource Guide to Address Anti-Asian Discrimination
The UGA Psychology Department stands in solidarity with the Asian American community against attacks that damage our entire society, but also have a particularly detrimental impact on the Asian American community. We encourage every member of our community to take a stand against the structures that perpetuate and fuel discrimination and assaults on Asian American and Pacific Islander persons and we will work towards those ends as a Department. This resource guide includes well-being resources, information for reporting incidents, and resources on anti-Asian sentiment.

Local Resources

This page is a collection of local resources that individuals residing in Athens-Clarke County and the surrounding areas may utilize to learn more about and help navigate issues related to social justice in our immediate communities.

Athens Mutual Aid Network
Athens Mutual Aid Network is a coalition of organizations and community members coming together to support the most vulnerable members of Athens. From here you can access many of our areas orgs including Project Safe, the local food bank, and more.
Athens-Clarke County Jail Book Report (last 7 days)
Athens-Clarke County public records access provides a list of arrests within the past 7 days that is updated every 15 minutes. They ask that you allow 24 hours for the system to update, but generally names are posted within 4 hours of booking. Important details can be found in this listing, including the charge, the type of crime, police case number, and the bond amount.
Georgia Arrest Record Restriction Information
This link is for information on Athens-Clarke County Arrest Record Restriction Information and Events: Although criminal justice reform has gained momentum over the past decade, this overwhelming support for records restriction is still remarkable for a state where most of the “tough on crime” laws and policies of the 1990’s are still in effect. SB 288 (it unanimously passed the Georgia House and Senate on June 24, 2020) permits restriction and sealing of up to two misdemeanor convictions during a person’s lifetime and of pardoned felonies. To petition to restrict misdemeanor convictions, a person must: 1) have completed all terms of their sentence; 2) have not been convicted of any offenses for at least four years prior to filing a petition; and 3) not have any pending charged offenses.

How to Find Athens-Clarke County Dockets (and Other Georgia County Court Websites)

At the reference desk of a public law library it is not uncommon to get patrons with questions about area courts. We often have individuals call or visit in person wanting more information about a particular Georgia county court. One of my first reference phone calls was a local public patron trying to figure out how to search for and find their own Athens-Clarke county court records. Since then, I have had several public patrons (some driving in from other counties across the state) ask similar questions, looking for basic details related to their own records, or those of loved ones.

Here are the steps to take for locating ACC dockets:

If you Google “Athens Clarke County Superior Court” or “Athens Clarke County State Court” your first result is the county website: https://www.athensclarkecounty.com/324/Clerk-of-Superior-State-Courts. From the left menu select either “Civil Records”, “Criminal Records”, or “Court Docket”. They will all redirect you to the same webpage (Athens-Clarke County Clerk of Court).
From the “Athens-Clarke County Clerk of Court” webpage https://www.athensclarkeclerkofcourt.com/, in addition to contact information, you can select “Case Search” in the top menu which will take you to the Dockets Search landing page.
From the “Dockets Search / Case Search” landing page you must choose either “Civil” or “Criminal” Search. The options will differ depending on which search type you select.
For “Civil” you can search by: case number, party name, filing dates and limit to “superior, state, domestic, child support, or habeas corpus”. You can also choose to search “all”.
For “Criminal” you can also search by: case number, name (last, first), citation, and filing dates. Here your limit options are only “superior” or “state”, but default is to search “all”.
In both searches a table will load withresults. Depending on your search, you may have more than one case returned as an option.
Locate the correct case in the list, and click on the green “+” at the far left of the table to expand the details. Details may include a list of “charges” and/or “proceedings and events” followed by dates and if available attached documents.
Attachments that are available will have a hyperlinked “View” at the far right of the table. Click that to view a portion of the document and to have the option to purchase a copy for a small fee (usually only a few dollars).

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You do not need an attorney to access these types of public records. You can check a case status at any time by visiting the links above and following the steps. Other counties in Georgia may differ slightly, but many have similar case search tools available online. If you are having trouble locating a specific Georgia county court website, another great resource is the Georgia Judicial Gateway. This is powered by Peachcourt and a variety of case searches can be found here. You will need to register using an email address, but access to the search is free and will not cost you anything to create an account.