Arrest Records for Lee County, Alabama

When you need to pull an arrest record in Lee County, the records live across two distinct systems: the Lee County Sheriff’s Office holds booking-side records for anyone processed through the Lee County Detention Center, while court-side case records sit with the Lee County – Thirty-Seventh Circuit Court of Alabama. Alabama’s statewide trial-court index covers Lee County cases but charges a per-name search fee — the free Alacourt portal covers appellate courts only and will not show a county criminal case. Reach the Sheriff’s Office at (334) 749-5651; the Courthouse opens at 8:30 AM Monday through Friday.

If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Lee County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.

If your person has a history in other states

Lee County’s official portals cover charges filed in Alabama’s Thirty-Seventh Circuit and the Opelika Municipal Court — they won’t surface records from other states, federal cases, or charges filed under a prior name in a different jurisdiction. A nationwide database search may help fill gaps that local portals often leave, pulling records that may include out-of-state filings, name variants, and cases predating the online window of any single county system. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account.

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How to look up arrest records in Lee County

Roughly four access points exist for Lee County arrest records, and they serve different purposes — the right one depends on whether you need a booking entry, a court docket, or a state-prison record.

Alacourt paid statewide index. Alabama’s unified trial-court index covers all sixty-seven counties, including Lee County’s Circuit and District Court cases. It charges a fee per name search. The free portal at the same domain covers appellate courts only — it will not return a Lee County criminal case. For court-side records (case numbers, charges, dispositions, attorney of record), this is the most complete online option for Lee County.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office — booking records and recent arrests. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office maintains the jail register for the Lee County Detention Center. Alabama law requires the sheriff’s jail register to be open to public inspection, so booking records are presumptively public. The Sheriff’s Office publishes recent arrest information. You can also reach the office directly at (334) 749-5651. A practical note: in-person visits can run about an hour, and Mondays tend to be busier — plan accordingly.

Lee County Circuit Court — Thirty-Seventh Judicial Circuit. The Lee County – Thirty-Seventh Circuit Court of Alabama handles felonies and major civil matters. The Circuit Clerk’s Office processes court records requests. Phone lines at the Clerk’s Office can have extended hold times; visiting in person during mid-morning on a non-Monday is generally more efficient. The Courthouse opens at 8:30 AM Monday through Friday. Traffic court payments require a cashier’s check or money order — personal checks and cash are not accepted at the payment drop.

Opelika Municipal Court — city ordinance charges. Charges filed in Opelika’s municipal court sit outside the statewide Alacourt index. Request those records directly through the Opelika Municipal Court records request process. Auburn Municipal Court charges are similarly separate — contact Auburn’s court directly to confirm records access for city-level cases.

Alabama Department of Corrections — state prison sentences. Someone serving a state prison sentence is in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), not the county jail. Use the ADOC inmate search for anyone sentenced to a state facility. The Lee County Detention Center holds people awaiting trial or serving shorter sentences under the Sheriff’s custody.

The Sheriff’s Office also maintains a Lee County inmate search tool for current detainees, and case file information and case status updates are available through the Sheriff’s Court Security and Transport division for transport-related case tracking.

Are Lee County arrest records public?

When a charge involves a victim whose safety could be compromised by disclosure, certain identifying details in the record may be redacted — but the underlying arrest record itself remains public under Alabama law. That distinction matters: redaction of victim-identifying information is narrow and targeted, not a blanket seal of the case.

The broader framework is Ala. Code §§ 36-12-40 to 36-12-46, Alabama’s Open Records Act. Under that statute, booking records and the jail register held by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office are presumptively public. Court filings at the Thirty-Seventh Circuit are similarly public by default. You do not need to demonstrate a specific purpose to request them.

The narrow exceptions are: sealed or expunged records (discussed below), juvenile records, and victim-protection redactions. Juvenile records are confidential under Alabama law and will not appear in a standard public-records request. Victim-protection redactions remove specific identifying details — a home address, for example — without sealing the case itself. The arrest charge, case number, and disposition remain visible.

A record that has been expunged under Ala. Code § 15-27-1 is no longer accessible to the public. Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records, but a standard public-records request will not surface them. If a name search returns no results on Alacourt or at the Sheriff’s Office, the record may have been expunged — or may never have existed in the first place.

Municipal court records for Opelika and Auburn sit outside the statewide index. Those records are still public, but you must request them directly from the relevant city court rather than through Alacourt or the County Clerk.

What’s in a Lee County arrest record?

What fields will you actually see when you pull a Lee County arrest record? The answer depends on which system you’re looking at — the booking entry and the court docket are separate documents maintained by separate agencies, and they don’t always show the same information.

Booking-side record (Sheriff’s Office / Detention Center). The booking entry created at the Lee County Detention Center typically includes: the person’s full name and date of birth, booking date and time, the charge or charges as written by the arresting officer, the arresting agency, bond amount (if set), and a booking number. Alabama law requires the jail register to be open to public inspection, so these fields are generally accessible. The official record may also contain a booking photograph. For the Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s mugshot release policy, call (334) 749-5651 — the specific policy governing public release of booking photos isn’t posted online.

Court-side docket (Thirty-Seventh Circuit / District Court). The court docket at the Lee County Courthouse shows the case number, the formal charge as filed by the prosecutor (which may differ from the arresting officer’s charge), all hearing dates, motions filed, attorney of record, and — critically — the disposition. Disposition is the outcome: guilty plea, conviction at trial, acquittal, dismissal, nolle prosequi. This is the field that matters most for background-check purposes, and it only appears on the court-side record, not the booking entry.

The gap between these two systems is worth understanding. A booking entry records an arrest. The court docket records what happened afterward. Someone arrested and later acquitted will have a booking entry showing the charge but a court docket showing the acquittal — the two records together tell the complete story. Pulling only the booking entry gives an incomplete picture.

For traffic-related charges, the Lee County Traffic Court maintains its own docket. Certain traffic offenses also have an online resolution option through the OTR Traffic resolution portal.

How to expunge an arrest record in Lee County

Dismissed and acquitted cases in Lee County often qualify for expungement on a streamlined path — no conviction means no waiting period is typically required, and the petition process is more straightforward than for conviction-based sealing.

Alabama’s expungement statute, Ala. Code § 15-27-1, was significantly expanded in 2021. A great deal of published guidance — including older material from the state bar — still says expungement is only available for dismissed or acquitted cases. That is no longer accurate. The statute now reaches convictions as well, not only charges that were dismissed or ended in acquittal. If you’ve been told you can’t seal a conviction in Alabama, verify that against the current statute text.

Dismissed or acquitted cases. When a charge was dismissed, nolle prossed, or resulted in acquittal, the path to sealing is generally available without a conviction-based waiting period. The petition is filed in the circuit court for the county where the charge was brought — for a Lee County charge, that means the Thirty-Seventh Circuit Court at the Lee County Courthouse. The district attorney and the arresting agency are both entitled to object to the petition, so the process is not automatic even for dismissed cases.

Conviction-based sealing. For charges that resulted in a conviction, a waiting period applies after the sentence is completed. The statute sets the timing requirements; check the current text of Ala. Code § 15-27-1 or ask the Clerk of Court for the applicable window for your specific offense type. Not all conviction types are eligible — the statute lists exclusions, and certain violent offenses and sex offenses are generally not sealable.

How to file. The petition is filed at the Lee County Circuit Clerk’s Office in the Lee County Courthouse. A filing fee applies; the statute provides an indigency waiver path for those who cannot afford the fee. You can petition without an attorney, but the process involves serving the district attorney’s office and the arresting agency, responding to any objections, and potentially appearing at a hearing. An attorney can handle those steps — the Alabama State Bar’s the state bar lawyer directory can connect you with someone who handles expungement matters, and the Alabama indigent defense locator may help if cost is a barrier.

What changes after sealing. Once a record is sealed under the statute, it is no longer accessible to the public. A standard Alacourt search will not return it. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office will not disclose it in response to a public-records request. Law enforcement agencies, however, retain access — the record doesn’t disappear from their systems, it becomes non-public. This distinction matters for understanding what “expunged” actually means in practice.

Petitioning to seal an arrest record in Lee County is a routine legal procedure. The Clerk’s Office at the Lee County Courthouse can confirm current filing fees and provide the petition form; call (334) 749-5651 to ask before making the trip, as phone lines can be busy.

Quick-contacts decision table

Frequently asked questions about Lee County arrest records

Where do I find my own Lee County arrest record, and what will it show?

Your Lee County arrest record exists in two places. The booking entry — with your name, booking date, charge as written by the arresting officer, and bond amount — is held by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office; call (334) 749-5651 to request it. The court-side record, which includes the formal charge, case number, attorney of record, and disposition (the outcome), is at the Lee County – Thirty-Seventh Circuit Court of Alabama. You can search the court docket through the paid Alacourt statewide index at alacourt.gov — the free portal covers appellate courts only and will not show your county case. If you need a certified copy for a specific purpose, visit the Circuit Clerk’s Office at the Lee County Courthouse, which opens at 8:30 AM Monday through Friday.

How do I get a Lee County arrest record sealed or expunged?

Petitioning to seal a Lee County arrest record is filed at the Thirty-Seventh Circuit Court — the same courthouse where the charge was brought. Alabama’s expungement statute (Ala. Code § 15-27-1) was expanded in 2021 to cover convictions, not only dismissed or acquitted cases, so older guidance saying only non-convictions qualify is out of date. If your charge was dismissed or resulted in acquittal, you can generally petition without a conviction-based waiting period. For a conviction, a waiting period applies after the sentence is completed; check the current statute or ask the Clerk of Court for the specific window that applies to your offense type. A filing fee applies, with an indigency waiver available. The district attorney and arresting agency may object, so the process is not automatic. The Alabama State Bar’s the state bar attorney search can connect you with an attorney who handles expungement matters in Lee County.