Arrest Records Lookup: Lowndes County, Alabama

If you have a name and need a Lowndes County arrest record, the county’s court records live at the Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones office page on the Second Circuit Court’s portal — that’s your primary court-side source. The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office holds the booking-side records and the jail register, reachable at (334) 548-2331. The Lowndes County Courthouse sits at 1 South Washington Street, Hayneville, AL 36040, with office hours Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Alabama’s statewide trial-court index covers all 67 counties but charges a per-name fee — it is not a free search.

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

If your person has a history in other states

Lowndes County’s court portal covers cases filed in this circuit, but records from other states, federal court cases, or charges filed under a prior name in a different jurisdiction won’t appear there. A nationwide third-party database search may surface records that local portals often leave gaps around — including name variants, prior addresses, and charges predating the portal’s online window. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account.

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This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.

How to look up arrest records in Lowndes County

Pull up Alabama’s Open Records Act — Ala. Code §§ 36-12-40 to 36-12-46 — and it makes clear that court filings and booking records in Lowndes County are presumptively public documents. That means you have real access, not just theoretical access. Here’s how each pathway works in practice.

Circuit Clerk — court-side records. Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones maintains the official docket for felony and major criminal cases filed in Lowndes County’s Second Circuit Court. Her office page at Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones is the county-official source for case numbers, charge descriptions, and disposition records. The Lowndes County Courthouse is at 1 South Washington Street, Hayneville, AL 36040. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Payment at the courthouse is accepted by cashier’s check or money order; personal checks are not accepted, and debit or credit card payments carry a 4% processing fee. Call to confirm the current records-request fee before visiting.

Alacourt — statewide paid index. Alabama’s Unified Judicial System runs a single trial-court index covering all 67 counties, including Lowndes. You can search it at Alacourt, but it charges a fee per name search. The free portal on the same domain covers appellate courts only — it will not show a Lowndes County criminal case. If you need to search across multiple counties or verify records from other Alabama jurisdictions, the paid Alacourt index is the right tool. Municipal court charges may sit outside the index entirely; confirm those directly with the relevant city court.

Sheriff’s Office — booking records and jail register. Alabama law requires the county sheriff’s jail register to be open to public inspection. For a recent booking in Lowndes County, contact the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office directly. The confirmed line is (334) 548-2331. The Sheriff’s department page on the county’s official site is at Sheriff S Department. Jail staff can confirm arrest date, housing status, and where to post bail. The judiciary directory on the Second Circuit Court portal at Judiciary Directory also lists county jail contact information.

Alabama Department of Corrections — state prison sentences. Someone serving a state prison sentence is no longer in the county jail. Use the Alabama Department of Corrections inmate search for anyone transferred to ADOC custody. That tool covers people sentenced to state facilities, not pre-trial detainees held locally.

Traffic court records. Traffic-related charges in Lowndes County have a dedicated portal at Traffic, linked from the Second Circuit Court’s traffic court section. If the record you’re looking for involves a traffic offense, that portal may surface it more directly than the general Alacourt index.

Magistrates and warrants. The Second Circuit Court publishes an active warrant database. Note that obtaining a warrant in Lowndes County requires filing an incident or offense report first — the magistrate’s office handles that intake process.

Are Lowndes County arrest records public?

Understand the tension clearly: Alabama’s open-records framework gives the public a genuine right of access to government records, while individuals have a legitimate interest in not having every arrest follow them indefinitely. The law resolves this tension by making most records public by default, with narrow statutory exceptions.

Under Ala. Code §§ 36-12-40 to 36-12-46, booking records and court filings in Lowndes County are presumptively public. The sheriff’s jail register is specifically required by Alabama law to be open to inspection. That means arrest date, charges, case number, and booking information are accessible to anyone who asks — not just attorneys or parties to the case.

The exceptions are real but narrow. Juvenile records are not public. A case that has been sealed or expunged under Alabama’s expungement statute is removed from public view — the record still exists in law enforcement systems, but the public cannot access it. Victim-protection redactions may apply in certain cases, removing identifying information about victims from publicly accessible documents. Grand jury materials are sealed by operation of law.

Booking photos are part of the official record the Sheriff’s Office may maintain. Alabama has no statute restricting their publication, so they may appear in official records you receive. Whether the county posts them online is a policy question — call the Sheriff’s Office at (334) 548-2331 to ask about current practice.

One practical note: the statewide Alacourt index is a paid service, which means cost is a real barrier to access even when the legal right exists. The free portal on that domain covers only appellate decisions. For Lowndes County trial-court records, you either pay for the Alacourt name search or visit Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones’s office in person at the Lowndes County Courthouse.

What’s in a Lowndes County arrest record?

Arrest records in Lowndes County go back as far as the court’s electronic records extend — and older paper records held at the Lowndes County Courthouse may reach back further still. There is no automatic expiration date on a criminal record; an arrest from decades ago remains retrievable unless it has been sealed under Alabama law.

The record you retrieve will look different depending on which system you pull from. Court-side records (from Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones’s office or the Alacourt index) and booking-side records (from the Sheriff’s Office) live in separate systems and show different fields.

Court-side docket entries typically include: case number, filing date, charge description and statute cited, court dates and continuances, attorney of record (if one has appeared), plea entered, and disposition — meaning the outcome, whether that’s a conviction, acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi. Disposition data is the most valuable field for a records check, because it tells you whether the charge resulted in a conviction or was dropped. Not every case in the Alacourt index will show a final disposition if the case is still pending.

Booking-side entries from the Sheriff’s Office include: booking date and time, charges at the time of arrest (which may differ from what was ultimately filed in court), physical description, and the official booking record. The jail register is the Sheriff’s document; it reflects the arrest, not the court outcome. A booking record with no corresponding court disposition may mean the charge was never filed, was dismissed early, or is still pending — the booking record alone doesn’t tell you which.

Traffic-related charges have their own record trail accessible through the Alabama traffic court portal, which is linked from the Second Circuit Court’s site. If the name you’re searching has traffic violations in Lowndes County, that portal may show records that don’t surface in a standard criminal case search.

For the mugshot release policy specific to Lowndes County, call the Sheriff’s Office — the policy isn’t published in the official online documentation.

How to expunge an arrest record in Lowndes County

Since 2021, Alabama’s expungement law has covered convictions — not just dismissed charges or acquittals. A lot of published guidance still says otherwise, including older material from the state bar. If you’ve been told you can’t seal a conviction in Alabama, that information may be out of date.

Dismissed and acquitted cases have the most straightforward path. If your Lowndes County charge was dismissed, nolle prossed, or ended in an acquittal, you may be eligible to petition for expungement without a waiting period. That streamlined path is worth pursuing promptly, because the charge will remain on your public record until a court order removes it.

For convictions, the controlling statute is Ala. Code § 15-27-1. Eligibility depends on the nature of the offense and whether a waiting period has been satisfied after completion of the sentence. The statute sets the timing requirements; AL law sets the specific durations in that provision. Check the current statute text or ask the Circuit Clerk’s office to confirm the applicable window for your specific charge type, because the rules differ by offense category.

The petition is filed in the circuit court for the county where the charge was brought — for Lowndes County cases, that means filing with Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones at the Lowndes County Courthouse, 1 South Washington Street, Hayneville, AL 36040. The district attorney and the arresting agency are both entitled to object to the petition, so the process is not automatic even when you meet the eligibility criteria.

Filing fees apply. If you cannot afford the fee, an indigency waiver path exists — ask the Clerk’s office about the process for fee waiver when you file. Courthouse payments are accepted by cashier’s check or money order; the 4% processing fee applies to card payments.

You can file the petition yourself without an attorney. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Alabama State Bar’s lawyer referral service can help you find counsel if you want representation. If you qualify for a public defender, the Alabama indigent defense locator is the right resource.

One important distinction: after a successful expungement, the record is removed from public access. Law enforcement agencies can still see it. Background checks run by the public — including third-party database searches — should not show a properly sealed record, but database update lag means it may take time to disappear from all sources.

Quick-contacts reference

Frequently asked questions about Lowndes County arrest records

How do I find out what arrest records exist for a specific name in Lowndes County?

Court-side records are searchable through Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones’s office at the Lowndes County Courthouse, 1 South Washington Street, Hayneville, AL 36040 — office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The paid Alacourt statewide index also covers Lowndes County trial-court cases for a per-name fee. For booking records and the jail register, contact the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office at (334) 548-2331 — Alabama law requires the jail register to be open to public inspection. If the person you’re searching may have served a state prison sentence, use the Alabama Department of Corrections inmate search as a separate lookup.

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

Petitioning to seal an arrest record in Lowndes County is a routine legal procedure under Ala. Code § 15-27-1. Dismissed charges and acquittals often qualify for expungement without a waiting period — those cases have the most direct path. Since 2021, Alabama law also reaches certain convictions, not just non-conviction outcomes. File the petition with Circuit Clerk Stephanie Jones at the Lowndes County Courthouse; the district attorney and arresting agency may object. Filing fees apply, and a fee waiver is available if you qualify — ask the Clerk’s office. You can petition without an attorney, but the Alabama State Bar’s lawyer referral service can connect you with counsel if you want help navigating the process.