Cobb County, Georgia Criminal Records Search: Cases & Public Records

Q: How far back does the Cobb State Court criminal search go?

Cobb State Court currently states that its online traffic and misdemeanor case coverage begins April 26, 1999.

Q: Why can't I find a Cobb County felony in the State Court search?

Felony criminal cases are generally handled in Cobb Superior Court rather than State Court. Contact or search through the Superior Court Clerk for felony case records.

Q: Can I search Cobb County cases using a birth date?

The Cobb State Court criminal search supports a four-digit birth-year field. Combining birth year with a full name can reduce false matches.

Q: How much is a Cobb County Sheriff's background check?

The Sheriff's Office currently lists its criminal background-check fee at 25 dollars, plus a 3.5 percent payment-processing fee. Cash is not accepted.

Q: Can I request someone else's Georgia felony conviction history?

Georgia Felon Search provides public access to qualifying in-state felony-conviction information using the person's name, date of birth and sex.

Q: How do I obtain my own Georgia criminal-history record?

GBI says an individual can obtain their own Georgia criminal-history record from most Georgia sheriff or police departments. Cobb County Sheriff's Office provides an in-person background-check service.

Q: What should I do if my Georgia criminal history is wrong?

Identify the inaccurate entry, obtain supporting documentation from the court or reporting agency, and follow the Georgia Crime Information Center correction process. Fingerprint comparison is used when identity is disputed.

Cobb County, Georgia official-record guide

Start with the court that actually handled the Cobb County case

Cobb County criminal information is split among several agencies. State Court maintains many misdemeanor and traffic cases, Superior Court handles felony-level criminal matters, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office maintains jail and arrest-related records, and the Georgia Crime Information Center maintains statewide criminal-history information. A useful search starts by matching the record type to the agency that actually created or maintains it.

Jurisdiction: Cobb County, Georgia County seat: Marietta Information checked: September 2026

Fast answer: For Cobb County misdemeanors, start with the State Court Records Search. For a felony, use the Cobb Superior Court Clerk. For current jail custody, charges and bond information, use the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office inmate search. For statewide Georgia felony-conviction information, use Georgia Felon Search.

Search misdemeanor cases Cobb State Court criminal, misdemeanor and traffic case information.

State Court →

Find a felony case Superior Court handles felony criminal prosecutions.

Superior Court →

Find someone in jail Current custody, charges and bond information.

Sheriff search →

Get a background check Cobb Sheriff offers in-person Georgia criminal-history checks.

Background check →

Search statewide Georgia felony-conviction search and GCIC criminal-history options.

Georgia records →

One “criminal record” search can involve several Cobb County agencies

State Court

Misdemeanor criminal cases

Search many Cobb County misdemeanor and traffic cases by name, filing date, case number and other supported fields.

Superior Court

Felony prosecutions

Felony-level criminal matters are handled in Cobb Superior Court rather than the State Court misdemeanor database.

Sheriff

Jail and arrest records

The Sheriff’s Office maintains incarceration records, fingerprints, photographs and court-related records for detainees.

GCIC / GBI

State criminal history

Georgia Crime Information Center records can include identification, arrest, disposition and qualifying custodial information.

Georgia DOC

State prison record

Search people currently serving in Georgia Department of Corrections facilities through the statewide offender locator.

Federal court

Federal case

Federal criminal prosecutions are separate from Cobb County court systems and are searched through PACER.

Do not treat an arrest or charge as a conviction. A person can be arrested without being convicted. Always review the court disposition before describing how a case ended.

Search Cobb County State Court criminal cases online

The Cobb State Court Records Search is the county’s official public online system for many misdemeanor and traffic cases.

Open Cobb State Court Search

Select “Criminal Cases”

The search page supports both civil and criminal records. Make sure Criminal Cases is selected before entering the defendant information.

Enter the last and first name

Add a middle name when known. A more complete name is particularly useful for common surnames.

Add the birth year

Cobb State Court allows birth-year filtering on criminal searches. Enter all four digits of the year when known.

Use a filing-date range if needed

If you know approximately when the case was filed, entering a date range can dramatically reduce unrelated matches.

Open the matching case

Review case events, parties, docket entries, offenses and disposition information shown by the court.

Verify important information from the official file

The court warns that online data is provided as a convenience. If there is a discrepancy, the official court record controls.

Useful Cobb-specific feature: the search offers a phonetic search for first and last names. This can help when you know how a surname sounds but are unsure of the exact spelling.

Ways to narrow a Cobb State Court search

The official search offers more than a basic first-and-last-name box.

Name

Defendant name

Last name, first name and middle name can be combined.

DOB filter

Birth year

Available for criminal cases and entered as a four-digit year.

Date

Filing range

Useful when the approximate year or period of the case is already known.

Direct

Case number

Best choice when you already have the exact court case number.

The system also includes citation-number and tag-number search options for certain school-bus cases.

Too many results? The Cobb search guide says only the first 5,000 records are returned. Add a first name, birth year or filing date when searching a common surname.

How far back does the Cobb State Court online database go?

Cobb State Court currently states that its public website includes:

civil cases filed from March 17, 1997 through the current year
traffic cases filed from April 26, 1999 through the current year
misdemeanor cases filed from April 26, 1999 through the current year

Older case missing? A case that predates the online database may still exist in court records. Contact the State Court Clerk instead of concluding that no record exists.

The State Court also says current-day case-management updates generally become available online the following day.

How to read a Cobb criminal case result correctly

The online system can show several layers of information. Read them together rather than relying on a single charge label.

Section	What it can show	What to check
Case details	Case number, filing date, case type and status.	Confirm that this is the correct person and case.
Case parties	Defendant, judge, attorney and other parties.	Compare birth year and other available identifiers.
Case events	Arraignment, calendar calls, hearings and other events.	Events do not by themselves indicate guilt.
Docket entries	Accusation, warrants, bond records, notices, orders and filings.	Look for final disposition and sentence entries.
Offenses	Offense description, code and disposition.	Read every count separately.
Sentence	Fine, jail, probation and other court-ordered terms.	Make sure the sentence belongs to the charge being reviewed.

Best practice: when the case is important, save the exact case number and obtain the official court record rather than relying only on a web summary.

Felony cases belong in Cobb Superior Court, not the misdemeanor database

Cobb State Court handles many misdemeanor matters. Felony prosecutions are handled in Superior Court of Cobb County.

If a State Court search returns nothing but you know the allegation was felony-level, contact or search through the Cobb Superior Court Clerk rather than repeatedly searching the State Court database.

Why this matters: Georgia trial courts have different jurisdiction. A “no result” in one Cobb court does not establish that no criminal case exists in another Cobb court.

A practical felony-record workflow

1 Confirm felony intent Determine whether the known charge was felony-level.

2 Identify Superior Court Use the Cobb Superior Court Clerk for the official felony file.

3 Provide identifiers Name, approximate filing year and case number when known.

4 Request disposition Obtain the official final case outcome if proof is needed.

Where to obtain the official Cobb State Court record

The State Court online database itself warns that its web information is provided as a courtesy and may not contain the most current or complete record. In the event of an error or discrepancy, the official court record controls.

Official record location

Cobb State Court Clerk’s Office

12 East Park Square
Marietta, GA 30090

If you found the case online first, give the clerk the exact case number and describe the document you need—for example, final disposition, accusation, sentence order or certified case record.

Need a certified record? Ask the clerk specifically for a certified copy. A printout from the public web search is not automatically the same thing as a clerk-certified court record.

Search current Cobb County jail custody separately

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office maintains the Adult Detention Center and provides public custodial information through its inmate search.

The Sheriff’s Office says its custody search can be used to obtain information including criminal charges and bond amounts.

Cobb Sheriff Inmate Information

Adult Detention Center

Custody location

1825 County Services Parkway
Marietta, GA 30008

Jail Administration: (770) 499-4221

Bond

Bonding information

Phone: (770) 499-4200

Current booking information should still be matched to the court case when determining the final criminal outcome.

Booking charges are not final dispositions. Charges shown during custody can be amended, dismissed or resolved differently in court.

How Cobb County warrant information works

Cobb County Magistrate Court operates an online Warrant Inquiry system, but public access is limited. The current online warrant-inquiry account system states that online access is available only to members of the State Bar of Georgia.

For ordinary public warrant questions, the Sheriff’s Office lists: Warrant Information — (770) 499-4634.

Do not assume an attorney-only portal is a public warrant database. If a warrant may concern you personally, confirm it with the responsible court or Sheriff’s Office rather than relying on an unofficial warrant website.

Cobb County Sheriff’s criminal background checks

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office provides in-person criminal background checks at its Marietta headquarters.

Item	Current Sheriff guidance
Fee	$25
Location	185 Roswell Street, Marietta, GA
Hours	Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–3:45 p.m., excluding holidays
Midday closure	Closed 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. daily
Required ID	Valid government-issued photo identification
Payment	Credit card, debit card or mobile payment; cash is not accepted
Processing charge	3.5% payment-processing fee

The Sheriff’s form distinguishes several request purposes, including employment, personal record review and public records.

Important difference: the Sheriff’s current consent form states that a Personal Record Review provides Georgia records, while the public-record option provides Georgia felony-conviction information.

Cobb Sheriff Background Checks

Request Cobb Sheriff’s arrest, jail or agency records through Open Records

For Sheriff’s Office records that are not available through the inmate or background-check systems, Cobb Sheriff directs public requesters to its online GOVQA open-records system.

Cobb Sheriff Open Records

The Sheriff’s Records and Identification Unit maintains arrest and incarceration records, fingerprints, photographs and court documents for detainees housed in Cobb detention facilities.

Ask for the record precisely. Include the subject’s name, approximate arrest date, case or booking number if known, and the specific document sought. Narrow requests are easier to identify than “send everything you have.”

Cobb Sheriff currently lists its Open Records contact number as (770) 499-4728.

County court records and Georgia criminal history are different

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) operates the statewide criminal-history repository.

According to GBI, a Georgia criminal-history record can include:

identification data
arresting agency
arrest date
arrest charges
final judicial disposition data
qualifying custodial information

GCIC is not a public unlimited name-search system. GBI says it does not itself perform ordinary name-based criminal-history checks for the general public. Local sheriff and police departments handle many name-based checks, while Georgia Felon Search provides a separate public felony-conviction service.

Use Georgia Felon Search for statewide felony-conviction records

Georgia Felon Search allows the public to request an in-state search for Georgia felony convictions.

You need:

first name
last name
date of birth
sex
valid credit card

Coverage is narrower than a full criminal history. Georgia Felon Search does not return sealed or expunged information, juvenile felony history or misdemeanor records.

The search returns possible name-based matches. Georgia warns that only fingerprint comparison can conclusively establish that a record belongs to a specific person.

Open Georgia Felon Search

How to obtain your own Georgia criminal-history record

GBI says a person can obtain a copy of their own Georgia criminal history from most Georgia sheriff’s offices or police departments. Each local agency can set its own requirements and fees.

Cobb residents can use the Cobb County Sheriff’s background-check process for a local in-person request.

Why personal review is useful: checking your own record before an employment, housing, licensing or immigration process gives you a chance to identify a missing disposition or mistaken identity before someone else sees it.

Georgia fingerprint background checks use GAPS

Georgia uses the Georgia Applicant Processing Service (GAPS) for fingerprint-based noncriminal-justice background checks.

GBI states that the current GAPS fingerprint vendor is Idemia and directs applicants to the Georgia IdentoGO system.

Results are generally available to the authorized agency through the GAPS system after fingerprint processing.

Service	GCIC fee	Current GAPS total listed by GBI
Employment/licensing — Georgia only	$30	$39.99
Employment/licensing — Georgia + FBI	$42	$51.99
Volunteer — Georgia only	$28	$37.99
Volunteer — Georgia + FBI	$38	$47.99

Fees can change. Confirm the live GBI/GAPS amount before scheduling fingerprints.

GBI GAPS Information

Search Georgia state-prison records separately

Georgia’s Department of Corrections provides a free statewide offender search.

Georgia.gov says users can search adult offenders in Georgia DOC facilities using information such as name, ID or case number, age and other identifying details.

Georgia DOC Offender Search

County jail vs state prison: someone currently in the Cobb County jail may not appear in the Georgia DOC search. Use Cobb Sheriff’s inmate search for county custody.

Georgia sex-offender records use a separate registry

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is the central repository for the state’s public sex-offender registry under Georgia law.

GBI Sex Offender Registry Resources

A registry search is not a general criminal-history search. Absence from the sex-offender registry does not establish that a person has no criminal record.

Georgia record restriction can change what appears publicly

Georgia uses the term record restriction for certain criminal-history relief that was historically often called expungement.

GBI explains that:

for eligible arrests after July 1, 2013, the person generally contacts the prosecutor regarding restriction
for eligible arrests before July 1, 2013, an application process through the arresting agency may be required

Georgia Record Restriction Guidance

First Offender Act records: GBI explains that successful First Offender discharge can cause qualifying charges to be sealed in the Georgia criminal-history database, although information may still exist in court records or other lawful sources depending on the circumstances.

What to do if your Georgia criminal history is inaccurate

GCIC cannot simply rewrite a criminal-history entry based on a requester’s statement. GBI says updates generally require documentation or authorization from the agency that originally submitted the data.

Obtain your current Georgia criminal history

Identify exactly which arrest, disposition or identity information is wrong.

Find the source agency

Determine whether the error came from the arresting agency, prosecutor, court, probation office or another reporting agency.

Obtain supporting documentation

For a disposition problem, obtain the correct court record or other authoritative documentation.

Use GCIC’s correction / challenge process

If identity is disputed, GBI requires fingerprint comparison to determine whether the record belongs to you.

Georgia Crime Information Center

Phone: (404) 244-2639

Criminal History / Identification
P.O. Box 370808
Decatur, GA 30037

Federal criminal cases are separate from Cobb County records

A prosecution filed in federal court will not appear as a Cobb State Court or Cobb Superior Court prosecution. Federal cases are searched through PACER.

Search Federal Court Records

If you do not know which federal district handled the case, the PACER Case Locator can search the nationwide federal index.

Cobb State Court Clerk location in Marietta

This is the official State Court Clerk location listed by the county for obtaining the underlying State Court record.

Visiting for a felony file? Confirm the correct Superior Court Clerk location and record division before traveling. State Court and Superior Court serve different criminal jurisdictions.

Cobb County search tips that prevent wasted time

Tip 01

Misdemeanor or felony?

Start by identifying the level of offense. This determines whether State Court or Superior Court is the better first stop.

Tip 02

Use birth year

Cobb’s criminal State Court search lets you filter by four-digit birth year, which helps with common names.

Tip 03

Try phonetic search

If the spelling may be wrong, enable the official phonetic option for first and last name.

Tip 04

Search date range

If you know the approximate filing year, use a date window instead of pulling thousands of results.

Tip 05

Today’s change may appear tomorrow

State Court says same-day case-management updates generally become visible online the following day.

Tip 06

Old misdemeanor?

Online misdemeanor coverage begins in April 1999. Contact the clerk for earlier records.

Tip 07

Current jail question?

Skip court searching initially and check Cobb Sheriff’s inmate system for current custody and bond information.

Tip 08

Need statewide felony history?

Georgia Felon Search is more appropriate than searching Cobb County alone.

Tip 09

Get proof from the clerk

Use the official court record for certified disposition or formal verification.

Common questions about Cobb County criminal and public records

1. Can I search Cobb County criminal cases online for free?

Cobb State Court provides a free public online search for many misdemeanor and traffic cases. The system supports criminal searches by name, birth year, filing dates and case number.

2. How far back does the Cobb State Court criminal search go?

The court currently states that traffic and misdemeanor records in the online database begin April 26, 1999. Older records may require contact with the State Court Clerk.

3. Why can’t I find a Cobb County felony in the State Court search?

Felony cases are generally handled in Cobb Superior Court rather than State Court. Contact or search through the Superior Court Clerk when looking for felony criminal records.

4. Can I search Cobb County cases using a birth date?

The State Court public search allows a four-digit birth-year filter for criminal cases. Combining birth year with the person’s full name can improve search accuracy.

5. Does Cobb County have a current inmate search?

Yes. The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office provides inmate information for people in county custody, including criminal charges and bond amounts.

6. How much is a Cobb County Sheriff’s background check?

The Sheriff’s Office currently lists its in-person criminal background-check fee at $25, plus a 3.5% payment-processing charge. Cash is not accepted.

7. Can I request someone else’s Georgia felony conviction history?

Georgia law allows public access to qualifying felony-conviction records. Georgia Felon Search provides a statewide name-based felony-conviction search using name, date of birth and sex.

8. How do I obtain my own Georgia criminal-history record?

GBI says individuals can obtain their own Georgia criminal-history record from most Georgia sheriff or police departments. Cobb County Sheriff’s Office provides an in-person background-check service in Marietta.

9. Can I check Cobb County warrants online?

Cobb Magistrate Court has an online warrant-inquiry system, but current online access is limited to State Bar of Georgia members. Ordinary public warrant questions can be directed to the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office warrant-information unit.

10. What should I do if my Georgia criminal history is wrong?

Identify the incorrect arrest or disposition, obtain supporting documentation from the reporting agency or court, and use the GCIC correction process. Fingerprint comparison is required when identity itself is disputed.