Search Roane County Background Check Records
Roane County background check records are maintained by the Circuit Court Clerk, General Sessions Court, and the Roane County Sheriff's Office, all based in Kingston. Use this page to find how to request records locally or run a statewide Tennessee search.
Roane County Quick Facts
Roane County Circuit Court Clerk
The Roane County Circuit Court Clerk is located at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, Tennessee. This office keeps the official records for criminal and civil cases heard at the circuit court level in Roane County. Felony cases, major civil matters, and appeals from lower courts are all filed here. Records go back many years and are open to public inspection under Tennessee law.
To get records from the Circuit Court Clerk, you can visit in person during regular business hours or send a written request by mail. Include the subject's full name, any known case numbers, and a date range if possible. The clerk's staff can search for cases by name at the public access terminal or through the office's internal system. Fees apply for printed copies. Certified copies cost more than plain copies. Call the office to confirm current fees before you mail payment.
The Tennessee statewide online case search also includes many Roane County circuit court records. Try searching at the Administrative Office of the Courts website first. If you need certified copies or records not found online, go directly to the clerk's office in Kingston. All access is governed by T.C.A. § 10-7-503.
Roane County General Sessions Court
The General Sessions Court in Roane County handles misdemeanor criminal cases, traffic violations, small civil disputes, and preliminary hearings in felony matters. When a felony case starts in Roane County, it usually has a preliminary hearing in General Sessions before being bound over to Circuit Court. Both sets of records are public and available at the courthouse in Kingston.
Misdemeanor convictions, traffic violations, and dismissed charges from General Sessions can all show up in a background check. These records are kept by the General Sessions clerk at the Roane County Courthouse. If you are looking for a specific misdemeanor case or a traffic matter in Roane County, call the courthouse main line and ask to be connected to the General Sessions clerk. In-person visits during business hours are the most reliable option for pulling complete records.
Roane County Sheriff's Office
The Roane County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement across the county and maintains arrest records, incident reports, and jail records. A records check through the sheriff's office covers only Roane County arrests. It will not show arrests in other counties or by state or federal agencies. For a complete Tennessee criminal history, use the TBI TORIS system instead.
The sheriff's office is located in Kingston. You can contact the records division to ask about requesting copies of arrest reports or incident records. Fees depend on the type of document. Some booking information may be posted online through the county jail roster. Call ahead to find out what is available, what format the records are in, and how to submit your request. The office may require a written request form or an email request depending on current procedures.
Current jail inmate status may also be available through the Roane County Sheriff's Office. If you need to verify whether someone is held in the local jail, the sheriff's office is the right place to call. Some counties post live jail rosters on the county website, so check there first before calling.
Statewide Background Checks - TBI TORIS
For a full Tennessee criminal history check that covers all 95 counties including Roane County, use the TBI's TORIS online system at tbibackgrounds.tbi.tn.gov. The fee is $29 for a name-based search. Results include arrests and dispositions reported to the TBI by law enforcement agencies and courts across the state. You pay online and get results through the portal.
Name-based searches can return false matches when two people share the same name. A fingerprint-based search eliminates this problem and is more accurate, but it requires an ORI number and is available only through IdentoGO for authorized agencies. Most individual background check requests use the name-based TORIS option. Note that results do not cover arrests in other states or the federal system.
You can mail a request to the TBI at 901 R.S. Gass Blvd., Nashville, TN 37216, or call 615-744-4057. Additional details on search types and procedures are on the TBI background checks page.
Public Records Access - T.C.A. § 10-7-503
The Tennessee Public Records Act, T.C.A. § 10-7-503, gives Tennessee citizens the right to inspect public government records during normal business hours. Roane County courts and government offices must allow access to non-exempt records without requiring a stated reason. The law covers court filings, clerk records, and other government documents created in the course of official duties.
Not all records are open. Juvenile records, sealed cases, active law enforcement investigative files, and certain protected records are exempt from public access. If a records custodian denies your request, they must provide the reason in writing. You may appeal the denial to the Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel. For standard background check searches in Roane County, access is generally straightforward and requests are handled without major delays.
Expungement - T.C.A. § 40-32-101
Tennessee's expungement law, T.C.A. § 40-32-101, allows certain Roane County records to be destroyed if they meet the legal criteria. Charges that were dismissed, cases where a grand jury did not return a true bill, or situations where a person was released without charges are all eligible. There is no filing fee for petitions of this type in Tennessee.
Some convictions can also be expunged under Tennessee law. The offense cannot involve physical force, a deadly weapon, or a sex crime requiring registration. If the court grants expungement, all public records of the case are destroyed and the person's legal record is restored to its status before the arrest. Petitions in Roane County are filed with the Circuit Court Clerk in Kingston. Legal aid or a private attorney can help with the petition, though you do not need one to file.
Felony Offender Records - FOIL
The Tennessee Department of Correction provides the free Felony Offender Information Lookup at apps.tn.gov/foil-app. The search is free and open to the public with no account required. Results include current custody status, facility location, booking photo, sentence details, and parole eligibility date for anyone currently in or recently through the Tennessee state prison system. This includes Roane County residents who received a state sentence.
FOIL covers the entire state system. It is not limited to Roane County. Results are updated within one week of any change in the inmate's status. This tool is the fastest way to check whether someone is currently in Tennessee state custody. It does not cover local jail holds in Roane County or federal prison time. For federal cases, use the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator at bop.gov.
Cities in Roane County
Roane County includes several communities, with Kingston serving as the county seat. No cities in Roane County currently meet the population threshold for individual city pages on this site. Criminal and court records for all Roane County residents are processed through the courthouse in Kingston.
Nearby Counties
Roane County borders several other Tennessee counties, each with its own clerk and court system for records requests.