Find Stephens County Clerk Records

Stephens County Clerk Overview

Stephens County has a split clerk structure. The Clerk of Superior Court, Tim Quick, maintains the court files for Superior, State, and Magistrate courts. The County Clerk is a separate administrative officer. Samantha Turner is listed as Stephens County Clerk and Open Records Custodian, with duties tied to Board of Commissioners records and county open-records compliance rather than courtroom dockets.

The county page says the County Clerk maintains agendas, minutes, informational notebooks, board-action distributions, contracts, leases, resolutions, ordinances, and general records for the Board of Commissioners. It also states that all Open Records Requests are accepted through the County Clerk. That makes this office a key fallback when a Stephens County record is not a case file held by the Clerk of Superior Court, Probate Court, Sheriff's Office, or another named custodian.

What Stephens County Clerk Does

The Stephens County County Clerk supports the Board of Commissioners and manages administrative records that are not the same as Superior Court, State Court, Magistrate Court, Probate Court, or Juvenile Court case files. The distinction is important. A divorce decree, felony indictment, civil judgment, or traffic disposition belongs with the court clerk. A board agenda, ordinance, county contract, lease, or general county open-records request routes to the County Clerk.

• Maintains records of actions taken by the Stephens County Board of Commissioners.
• Prepares or maintains agendas, minutes, resolutions, ordinances, contracts, and leases.
• Distributes board actions and informational notebooks.
• Provides administrative support to the Board of Commissioners.
• Accepts and coordinates Stephens County open-records requests.

When a requested record may involve a court case, the County Clerk path should be paired with the Stephens County Clerk of Superior Court. That court clerk is the office whose GSCCCA profile says records are not available to view online and whose local page says most court records may be viewed in the clerk's office.

Request Stephens County Records

The County Clerk's open-records process is best for county administrative records, broad public-record requests, unclear custodians, and records that are not routine court-counter searches. The official form says to allow at least three business days for researching and that the requester will be contacted when records are ready. It also explains that the first 15 minutes of research are free, while later research and copies may involve fees.

1. Decide whether the record is a court case file, sheriff or 911 record, Board record, contract, ordinance, agenda, minute, or other county record.
2. Use the county open-records page or form when the request is not a routine court-counter lookup.
3. Describe the record with names, dates, departments, incident details, case numbers, and the exact document type if known.
4. Choose delivery by in person, fax, email, or mail; provide the needed email, fax number, or mailing address.
5. Wait for staff to respond after research, then pay any lawful copy, media, or staff-time charges before receiving records.

Open Records Form Fields

The Stephens County open-records form is structured to collect the requester, delivery path, incident details when relevant, and a written description of the records. Clear scoping matters because Georgia access law allows fees for staff time after the first free research period, and broad requests can take longer to identify, search, redact, and prepare.

Stephens County Request Fees

The open-records form states that the first 15 minutes of research are free. After that, the county may charge the hourly rate of the lowest-paid qualified employee who can search, retrieve, redact, or prepare the records, plus lawful copy or media costs. Georgia's access statute also allows reasonable charges for search, retrieval, redaction, copying, and supervision when permitted by law.

Stephens County Request Forms

Stephens County uses different request paths for general county records and 911 records. The general open-records form is the County Clerk route. The 911 form is narrower and asks for CAD reports, call recordings, radio traffic, or another 911 record type. Court filings and court copies may still need to go through the Clerk of Superior Court or the specific court office.

• Open-records request page - county instructions for oral and written requests.
• Open Records Request Form - general written request form for county records.
• 911 Open Records Request Form - 911-specific request form for CAD, recordings, and radio traffic.

Mail, Email, and Records Limits

Open-records requests can be sent to Samantha Turner at 802 East Doyle Street, P.O. Box 386, Toccoa, GA 30577, or to openrecords@stephenscountyga.gov. The form also supports fax, email, mail, and in-person delivery choices. For in-person pickup, the form notes that ID is required. If the request belongs to another department, staff may need to route it to the actual custodian.

Some records may be withheld, redacted, or handled through a different office. Juvenile files, sealed court records, adoption records, certain criminal-history materials, active investigations, and safety-sensitive records should not be treated like open board minutes. Court case documents should start with the clerk or court that keeps that record; sheriff and jail records may require the Sheriff's Office records division or a 911-specific request.

Note: A County Clerk open-records request is not a substitute for legal service, case filing, or a court-certified copy.