Georgia Court Records

Georgia Court Record Lookup

Georgia GA court records are public documents, available to anyone who performs Georgia court case lookup, within certain limits. Records concerning juvenile cases, court documents that have been sealed, and those that name victims of crimes may not be available to the public.

Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

At the lowest level of Georgia’s court system are local magistrate courts that handle traffic tickets, landlord-tenant disputes, small claims suits valued under $15,000, and violations of local ordinances. In a recent year, these Georgia courthouses saw 65,000 criminal cases and 515,000 civil cases. These Georgia court records online can be accessed by performing Georgia court record lookup

Municipal Courts

There are 350 municipal courts across the state run by appointed or elected justices or magistrates. They sign arrest warrants, hear disputes of traffic tickets, and adjudicate misdemeanors. Jury trials are not held at this level. There were some 1.6 million cases before municipal courts in a recent year; the majority of them, about 1.2 million, were traffic issues.

State courts, probate courts, and juvenile courts are all courts of limited jurisdiction. State courts have the most broad jurisdiction, including preliminary criminal hearings, approving arrest warrants, and trying civil cases, which can be accessed by counducting Georgia court records search. Probate courts are concerned with trusts, wills, and estates as well as marriage licenses and guardianships for the elderly and mentally ill. Juvenile court proceedings are generally confidential due to the age of those concerned, but serious cases are occasionally tried in adult courts. Statewide, there were about 78,000 juvenile cases heard in a recent year.

Superior Court

There are 49 superior court circuits in the state with jurisdiction over criminal cases, civil lawsuits, including Georgia child support and custody cases, and family/domestic matters. In a recent year, this court saw about 120,000 criminal cases filed and almost 99,000 of them disposed. Similarly, there were about 45,000 civil cases and 129,000 domestic cases disposed in the same year, which can be found through Georgia criminal records.

Appellate Courts

There are both an intermediate court of appeals and a superior court in Georgia. Panels of three judges hear disputed cases from lower courts, and rather than issuing split decisions they expand the panel when there is disagreement.

The State Supreme Court

Nine justices serve on the state’s highest court, which hears appeals of selected cases decided in lower courts, advises on the constitutionality of laws, and oversees the state bar.

Federal Courts

It is possible to do online research of federal court cases for the districts in Georgia. These courts have jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases, violations of federal law, class action lawsuits, and multi-state lawsuits.

Georgia Notable Court Cases

Sometimes not breaking the law is bigger news than breaking the law: in a case that was "blowing up" television news in the summer of 2016, the lack of a law was the issue. A man who was convicted in lower court of violating a woman's privacy by videotaping up her skirt while she shopped in a grocery store had his case overturned by the state appeals court. The appeals court says that there's a gap in the law that does not address modern technology, that the woman was in a public place, and the current law does not stipulate the sort of videotaping that the defendant engaged in.

In 2015, the state Supreme Court threw out a lower court order that sought to force an accused murderer to take medication so he could stand trial. The 2010 case involves a man who killed four people at a trucking company. He was judged to be unable to stand trial due to mental health issues, so a lower court sought to force him to take anti-psychotic medication. The state Supreme Court threw out the order to medicate the man and remanded the case to lower court for other proceedings.