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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Hamilton County Sheriff’s website back online after two weeks

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett speaks at a Rotary Club luncheon on Feb. 27, 2025, at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office website was down for about two weeks after an attempted cyber attack, the office said.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett speaks at a Rotary Club luncheon on Feb. 27, 2025, at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office website was down for about two weeks after an attempted cyber attack, the office said. Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett speaks at a Rotary Club luncheon on Feb. 27, 2025, at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office website was down for about two weeks after an attempted cyber attack, the office said.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office website is back online, two weeks after a cyber-ransomware event prompted the agency to shut down its online services.

Between April 14 and April 28, when attempting to visit the Sheriff’s Office website, after watching a spinning blue circle for a period, some users saw an error message saying the website took too long to respond.

“Since the incident occurred, the HCSO has been working methodically and diligently alongside an external cyber defense firm to preserve and examine this cyber-ransomware event and systematically restore service to all internal and external systems,” Sheriff Austin Garrett said in a news release.

The website returned to service Monday.

There are a few internal software systems that are not yet operational. The information technology department at the agency expects to have all software systems operational later this week, according to the release.