Georgia Court Records & Case Lookup

At least 3.3 million cases are filed in different Georgia courts every year. According to reports by the Georgia Administrative Office of Courts, an average of 334,000 cases are filed in the Superior Courts annually in the state. This includes about 159,000 criminal filings, 117,000 domestic filings, and 57,000 general civil filings. Similarly, the State Courts handle an average of 670,000 case filings every year, which include about 586,000 criminal filings and 90,000 civil case filings.

The annual average of cases filed at the Municipal Courts in Georgia stands at 1.180 million, including at least 120,000 civil cases and about 1.060 million criminal cases. The state's Magistrate Courts handle about 640,000 case filings yearly, while an average of 319,000 case filings are handled by the Probate Courts. The Juvenile Courts in Georgia handle the least annual case filings at an average of 53,000 cases.

Unless specifically exempted from public disclosure under state law, all Georgia public records, including court records, are available for copying and inspection under the state's Open Records Act. Generally, Georgia public court records may be accessed by contacting the court clerk in the court and county where such cases were filed and/or heard. Alternatively, the state's Judicial Council (AOC) provides electronic access to court records for most State and Superior Courts across Georgia.

State of Georgia Court System

The court system in Georgia has two appellate-level courts and seven classes of trial-level courts. The appellate-level courts comprise the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Georgia Supreme Court, the state's highest court, has appellate jurisdiction over matters of constitutional issues and convictions of capital felonies. On the other hand, the Court of Appeals has appellate jurisdiction over trial courts in matters outside the Supreme Court's exclusive appellate jurisdiction.

The state's trial-level courts include the Superior Court, State-wide Business Court, Probate Court, State Court, Magistrate Court, Municipal Court, and Juvenile Court. Under Georgia's court system, there are at least 50 circuits of the Superior Courts, 73 State Courts, 159 Magistrate Courts, 159 Juvenile Courts, 73 State Courts, and 370 Municipal Courts. Most legal matters in the state are settled in the trial courts. Only a small percentage of cases disposed of at the trial-level courts are appealed to higher courts.

Georgia Trial Courts

Georgia operates a two-tiered trial court system: the trial courts of general jurisdiction and the trial courts of limited jurisdiction. The Superior Court is the state's only trial court of general jurisdiction, while the other six trial courts are all limited jurisdiction courts.

Superior Courts in Georgia

These are general jurisdiction courts in the state, and they exercise broad criminal and civil jurisdiction. They have exclusive jurisdiction over cases of equity, domestic relations, title to land, and felony trials. The Superior Courts also exercise jurisdiction over misdemeanors and other civil matters. In addition, they may correct errors made by limited jurisdiction courts under certain circumstances.

State-wide Business Court in the State of Georgia

In Georgia, the State-wide Business Court has limited jurisdiction over 17 statutorily defined subject matters. These are mostly cases involving contract violations, corporate litigation, mergers, and various other complex business cases. Generally, such lawsuits must plead an amount in dispute of at least $500,000 (except for commercial real estate, which is limited to claims over $1 million) or arise under the court's equity jurisdiction.

Georgia Probate Courts

These are limited jurisdiction courts with exclusive jurisdiction in probate of wills, appointment of guardians, marriage license, administration of estates, and weapons carry licenses. They may hear cases involving certain misdemeanors, citations involving the state game and fish laws, and traffic violations in counties where there are no State Courts.

State Courts in Georgia

These courts are established by local legislation introduced in the state's General Assembly, and they exercise limited jurisdiction within a county. In Georgia, State Courts handle civil law actions except for matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Superior Court. They hear misdemeanors, including traffic violations, and hold preliminary hearings in criminal matters below felony grade. The State Courts also handle appellate reviews of civil cases from the Magistrate Court.

Magistrate Courts in Georgia

In Georgia, Magistrate Courts are the courts of first resort for several civil disputes, including landlord/tenant cases, county ordinance violations, bad checks, and dispossessories. As a court of limited jurisdictions, they hear civil claims involving amounts of $15,000 or less and handle matters involving minor criminal offenses. In criminal matters, these courts may hold preliminary hearings and issue search warrants.

Municipal Courts in Georgia

Municipal Courts in Georgia are generally established by cities to hear cases involving local ordinance violations, especially building code matters such as excessive noise, illegal dumping, and animal control. These courts also adjudicate traffic offenses in cities. In Georgia, Municipal Courts may conduct preliminary criminal hearings and in some cities, handle matters involving criminal trespass, marijuana possession, and misdemeanor shoplifting.

Juvenile Courts in Georgia

In Georgia, Juvenile Courts' jurisdiction extends to persons under 18 years alleged to be a child in need of services (CHINS), dependent, or alleged to have committed a juvenile traffic violation. Also, the court's jurisdiction covers individuals under 17 years alleged to have committed a delinquent act. In certain cases, matters involving persons who are not older than 23 years may be handled by Juvenile Courts.

What are the Specialty Courts in Georgia?

Sometimes called accountability courts in Georgia, specialty courts offer programs that provide alternatives to incarceration for persons whose criminal offenses are directly related to mental health issues and/or substance use. The essence of such programs is to reduce recidivism while also ensuring improved life quality for offenders.

The most common specialty courts in Georgia are listed below:

• Drug Court - The purpose of this court is to stop the abuse of alcohol and drugs, as well as related criminal activity
• Mental Health Court - This is a voluntary, judicially supervised treatment program for persons diagnosed with mental health illnesses.
• Family Dependency Treatment Court - The purpose of this court is to advance stable family reunifications for children of parents with acute substance use disorders.
• Parental Accountability Court - This court helps parents who owe considerable child support arrearages in finding and maintaining employment to enable them to accept child support responsibility and remove the challenges that may have prevented them from accepting those responsibilities in the past.
• Daily Reporting Center - This center requires persons on felony probation to attend daily classes and monthly court and complete random drug screens to assist them in developing stability in housing and employment.

Georgia State Court Records vs. Federal Court Records

Georgia court records are primarily created from cases handled by state-run or county-level courts, including the municipal, probate, state, juvenile, state-wide business, and superior courts. These records are generated from legal matters such as civil, criminal, probate, traffic violations, municipal ordinance violations, contract violations, landlord/tenant disputes, and domestic relations cases. Georgia court records are maintained by the courts under the state's judicial system and may be accessed in person at the clerks of courts' offices or online.

In contrast, documents and information gathered from cases that deal with the constitutionality of United States law in Georgia constitute federal court records in the state. Similarly, records of cases involving the United States laws and treaties in the state are federal court records and are largely maintained by the following courts:

• The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• The United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

The Public Access to Court Electronic Records portal (PACER) provides electronic public access to federal court records maintained by the federal courts in Georgia. However, access to case information costs users $0.10 per page, but the cost of a single document is capped at $3.

What Are Public and Non-Public Court Records in Georgia?

Court records that are publicly available to the general populace in Georgia are known as public court records. They may be accessed without restrictions from the record custodians, who are largely clerks of courts. On the other hand, the public disclosure of some court records or their details is restricted and may only be accessed by authorized persons. These are non-public records and are typically closed to the public for privacy reasons, by court orders, or by statute.

How To Seal or Expunge Georgia Court Records

Record expungement and sealing is known as restriction and sealing under Georgia law. Generally, the state does not use the term expungement because records are not destroyed, but access to such records is limited for certain individuals and entities. While restriction limits public access to official Georgia criminal history reports maintained by the state's Crime Information Center (GCIC), sealing restricts access to court records.

Under Georgia law, a court record may be restricted or sealed under the following circumstances:

• An arrest did not result in a person being formally charged either by indictment or accusation. However, there are two caveats. The person requesting the restriction/sealing must not have any other charges pending and must not have been convicted of the same crime within the last 5 years.
• An arrest results in a person being formally accused or indicted, but the indictment or accusation is subsequently dismissed, nolle prossed, or dead docketed. However, if the dismissal, nolle pros, or dead docket was the result of the following, such record may not be eligible for restriction or sealing:
  • The person being incarcerated on other criminal charges and the prosecutor deciding not to prosecute for judicial economy reasons
  • A plea agreement leading to a conviction for an offense arising from the same transaction
  • The person completed a pretrial diversion program that did not make specific provisions for record restriction/sealing
  • A material witness was unavailable to testify or refused to testify
  • The prosecution being barred from providing material evidence against the offender
• Felony and misdemeanor conviction for retroactive first offender under Section 42-8-66 of the Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A)

The Process of Court Record Restriction and Sealing in Georgia

The process of restricting public access to a court record in Georgia depends on the date the arrest that resulted in the record was made and which prosecuting attorney processed the case. If the arrest was before July 1, 2013, the request must be processed by the arresting agency. Otherwise (on or after July 1, 2013), contact the prosecuting attorney's office, who may either be a district attorney, Attorney General, or the solicitor-general, directly

The following steps must be taken to restrict public access to your criminal court record in Georgia:

• Request a copy of your criminal record from the local police department or sheriff's office to enable you to gather key information about the content of the record.
• If the arrest leading to the criminal court record occurred before July 1, 2013, complete Section 1 on the Request to Restrict Arrest Record Form. After filling out the form, submit it to the arresting agency and ask them to complete Section 2 and submit it to the office of the prosecuting attorney. Afterward, the prosecuting attorney's office will fill out Section 3 on the request form and either deny or approve the request within 90 days. The office will make its decision known to the applicant and the arresting agency.
• For an arrest that happened on or after July 1, 2013, contact the office of the prosecuting attorney in the county of arrest. The prosecuting attorney's office will most likely provide a request form. Unlike arrests that took place before July 1, 2013, this request does not have to be processed by the arresting agency. Rather, the prosecuting attorney's office will either deny or approve the request within 90 days, after which it will notify the applicant and the arresting agency.
• If the application is denied, appeal the decision to the Superior Court in the county where the arrest took place within 30 days.
• Once a person's request to restrict their criminal court record is approved, the office of the prosecuting attorney will submit the completed application to the Georgia Criminal Information (GCIC) database.
• The CGIC will process the record restriction application within two to three weeks and mail a letter of completion to the applicant confirming the record has been restricted in the law enforcement database.

How Do You Access State of Georgia Court Records?

You may access public Georgia court records in person at the county where such cases were filed and heard or online through state-approved platforms or county databases. Only authorized individuals or entities may access sealed court records or those marked confidential by state statutes.

Online Access to Georgia Court Records

The Judicial Council of Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) manages an online system, E-Access to Court Records, through which anyone may find records of court cases kept by State and Superior Courts. In addition, the state's Supreme Court operates a public access portal for cases docketed under its jurisdiction in the last five years.

Furthermore, most county-level courts in the state have online databases that allow interested persons to inspect and request copies of court records for cases handled within their jurisdictions.

In-Person Access to State of Georgia Court Records

To access a State of Georgia court record in person, visit the office of the court clerk where the record is being kept and submit a written request or a completed request form. In most cases, the clerk will guide a requester through the process. Depending on the county, requesters may be required to pay certain fees.

How To Request Judicial Administrative Records

You can request a judicial administrative record in Georgia by completing an Open Record Request Form and submitting it to the relevant court or administrative agency of the judicial record being sought. Alternatively, complete the Georgia Secretary of State online Open Records Request Form with the necessary details and submit it.

How To Access Older and Archived Court Records in Georgia

Some older court records in Georgia may be accessed through the E-Access to Court Records system. The system allows requesters to select the county of custody and search through the available files. However, for archived court records, interested persons may need to visit the clerk of court in the custody of such records and make/submit their requests.