Coffee County Arrest Records

Coffee County arrest records provide documentation of legal arrest events that occur in the county. These official documents are created by local, as well as state and federal, law enforcement when they book arrestees in Coffee County. These arrestees held in the detention facilities of the arresting agencies. For example, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office holds its arrestees at the county jail which it operates. When arrestees are charged to court, information provided on their intake records are included in the set of Coffee County court records produced during their hearings.

Are Arrest Records Public in Coffee County?

Yes. The Tennessee Public Records Act (Section 10-7 of the Tennessee Code) makes Coffee County arrest records available to the public. However, the law makes provisions for exceptions. Sealed and expunged arrest records as well as juvenile arrest records are exempted from public access.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

The information contained in an arrest record includes:

• Name, sex, age, and race of the arrestee
• Arrestee’s distinguishing physical marks such as scars and tattoos
• Arrestee’s mugshot
• The law enforcement agency that made the arrest
• Cause of arrest and category of the offense
• When and where the arrest took place

Coffee County Arrest Statistics

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) provides annual crime data for all the counties in the state. While its reports do not include arrest statistics, they do state the number of offenses reported to law enforcement agencies. The 2022 report published by the TBI shows that there were 1,173 offenses recorded in Coffee County with 536 of them cleared. Incarceration data for all counties in Tennessee are provided by the state’s Department of Corrections. The agency’s 2023 report indicates that the Coffee County Jail had a capacity of 400 and a population of 358 inmates.

Find Coffee County Arrest Records

Local law enforcement agencies in Coffee County do not provide online search tools for finding arrest records or the locations of persons in their custody. To locate arrestees in the county’s local jails, you should contact the agencies detaining them. Coffee County arrestees held at state prisons are held at facilities maintained by the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC). You can find records of such persons using the Offender Search tool provided by this agency. Individuals arrested in Coffee County by federal law enforcement officers are most likely detained at facilities controlled by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). You can find such persons with the agency’s inmate locator tool.

Free Arrest Record Search in Coffee County

The search tools mentioned above from TDOC and BOP are free to use to locate inmates of the facilities operated by those agencies. These free online arrest record searches can help you find arrestees currently held in state and federal detention facilities. In addition to these official inmate search options, there are third-party arrest record finders that can help you find Coffee County arrestees. These websites can search multiple databases at once to save you the effort of finding and visiting every official inmate locator available. However, their results may lack key details about inmate records due to limited access to official sources.

Coffee County Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

Coffee County arrest records only document arrests conducted by law enforcement officers in the county. In contrast, a Coffee County criminal record is a comprehensive criminal history of an individual providing details of every criminal arrest, charge, prosecution, and sentencing. A criminal record is the document produced from a background check and one sought by certain organizations when vetting potential hires. While you can obtain a Coffee County arrest record from the Sheriff’s Office or other law enforcement agencies operating in the county, a Coffee County criminal record is provided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation after requesting a background check.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

In Tennessee, an arrest will stay on your record indefinitely unless expunged. The state only allows the expungement of arrest records if they meet a narrow set of criteria.

Expunge Coffee County Arrest Records

Before seeking to expunge a Coffee County arrest record, you should know whether you qualify for this court action. Tennessee will agree to expunge your arrest record for free if:

• You were released without getting charged
• The charges relating to the arrest were dismissed
• The grand jury returns a “no true bill” at trial
• You were found not guilty at trial
• The prosecution refuses to pursue the charges against you
• A court in the state denied an order of protection after a hearing on the resulting case

If the arrest led to a pretrial diversion program, you would need to pay to expunge its record as long as you have completed the diversion program, the offense listed is not a sexual offense, and the charges brought against you were dismissed.

If eligible for expungement, you need to file a petition at the Coffee County court where the case resulting from the arrest was heard. You will need information about the case (such as case number and specific charge) to complete your petition. File this, and other required documents, with the clerk of the court and include a self-addressed stamped envelope to receive certified copies of the expungement order. Note that if the charge against you were “dismissed with costs”, you must pay the costs before getting your arrest record expunged.

Coffee County Arrest Warrants

An arrest warrant is a judge-signed order to apprehend and detain the individual named on the document. Arrest warrants are created in Coffee County when officers of the law approach judges with requests to detain suspects or persons of interest. Before approving a warrant, the judge would require the officers to provide probable cause. An active Coffee County arrest warrant will:

• Identify the individual to be arrested
• State the charge or reason for the arrest
• Have the name and signature of the approving judge
• Mention the court where the subject of the warrant must appear
• Have an issuance date

Do Coffee County Arrest Warrants Expire?

A Coffee County arrest warrant does not expire until the subject is apprehended or the court recalls and quashes the warrant. However, an arrest warrant in a misdemeanor case is considered terminated if it has not been served, recalled, or quashed within 5 years of issuing it.