Clerk of Superior Court
The Clerk of Superior Court is a Constitution Officer, meaning the position was created by an act of the Legislature in the State Constitution, and has been a county constitutional officer since the framers of the Georgia Constitution of 1798 provided for election of the Clerk of Superior Court every four years in each of Georgia's counties. Therefore, the Clerk is an impartial officer elected directly by and answerable to the people of the county and is not an employee or appointee of any entity.
The Clerk is the person responsible for protecting the integrity of the public records. The Clerk must follow the guidelines to have the property records records scanned/stored to protect the availability of such records.
Citizens' property records, civil case files, child support, criminal court records and files are processed and protected by the Clerk. As keeper of the public records, the Clerk records deeds, mortgages, plats, easements, boundary line agreements, liens, UCC financing statements, Lis Pendens, cancellations, Federal Tax liens, assignments, transfer tax and intangible tax, Indices, ect. The property records are then available to be located on the Public Search Terminal or on-line through GSCCCA. All of these items are subject to open records requests.
Other various duties include the following:
DD 214 Military Discharges are recorded, which gives the person the ability to receive as many certified copies as needed. These items are not subject to open records act.
Adoptions are confidential/sealed and records may not be viewed without a court order.
Issuing Notary Certificates. The applications are now available on line and can be completed before coming to our office to process.
Jury Management - Compiling of Jury List names and retaining such list. The Clerk issues the jury pay and work excuses.
Process Court Calendars - attend and maintain records of court proceedings.
Juvenile Case Management - recording and preserving of all court records. However, these records may not be viewed without a court order.
Protective Orders - processing and transmitting of the orders.
GCIC - transmitting criminal records to the state.
Garnishments - processing the answers filed. The funds are retained in a registry until the order is signed to disburse the funds. The funds are then sent to the party involved.
Appeals - process and transmit cases to the Georgia Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals.
Accounting - Collect the fees, taxes and fines, which are then disbursed at the end of the month. The office keeps a detailed inventory of the monies collected and disbursed.
Board of Equalization - maintain all appointments, class schedules, scheduling of hearings, correspondence and files.
Assist other agencies and the public with the public search terminals to obtain information.
