Emergency Judicial Orders – Georgia Judicial Gateway

A judicial emergency is defined as a state of emergency declared by the Governor, a public health emergency under O.C.G.A. 31-12-1.1, a local emergency under O.C.G.A. § 36-69-2, or another serious emergency when the emergency substantially endangers or infringes upon the normal functioning of the judicial system, including the ability of persons or litigants to have access to the court or meet time deadlines imposed by court order or rule, statute, or administrative rule or regulation. O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60(2).

Below is a list of circuits and courts that have filed judicial emergency orders. Each order contains specific details for each county. Click on the links to view an order for a particular circuit or county. Click on the links to view an order for a particular circuit or county. Please see our COVID-19 Preparedness site for more resources.

ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF JUDICIAL EMERGENCY

Executive Order Regarding the Judicial Branch (04/03/20)

The Order Declaring Statewide Judicial Emergency supersedes local judicial emergency orders filed before it. Many orders below have been superseded by the Statewide Order and are available for informational purposes. If an addendum or additional order is filed by an individual court after the Statewide Order, the updated date will be shown next to the hyperlink.

Judicial Circuit	Impacted Counties	Limited Jurisdiction Orders	Notes/General Information
Alapaha Circuit	Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, Lanier	Magistrate Court of Cook (Notice) Probate Court of Cook	The Magistrate Court of Berrien County is closed and will reopen December 4, 2020, Probate court of Cook county is closed reopening - 01/18/2021 Alapaha- Notice sites for Berrien, Cook Probate, Lanier County Clerk of Court's office closed through January 13, 2021 (12/30/20)
Alcovy Circuit Updated 07/01/2020	Newton, Walton		Public notices regarding judicial emergency can be found at https://www.alcovycircuit.com/, Walton County Courthouse closure has been extended through July 21, 2020.
Appalachian Judicial Circuit Updated 03/17/21	Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens		Order Establishing Jury Committee (09/21/20), Gilmer County Courthouse has reopened as of July 13, 2020.
Atlanta Circuit	Fulton	Fulton State Court Standing Orders (3) during the Judicial Emergency Order Magistrate Court of Fulton County Standing Order on Proceedings (7/13/20)	Atlanta Circuit –Notice sites for Superior, State, Juvenile, Probate, Magistrate
Atlantic Circuit Updated 05/29/20	Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, McIntosh (12/15/20), Tattnall	Municipal Court of Ludowici, Long	Notice sites for Bryan, Liberty, Evans, Long, Tattnall, Alternate Facilities Orders, Evans, McIntosh & Long Counties (May 4, 2021)
Augusta Circuit	Burke, Columbia, Richmond		Notice sites for Columbia, Richmond, 401 WAL TON WAY & CRAIG-BOUGHTON elementary school as the Augusta-Richmond County Judicial Center John B. Ruffin, Jr. Courthouse Annexes are designated for the conduct of judicial business, Richmond County Alternate Facility for Jury Selection (11/05/20)
Bell-Forsyth Judicial Circuit update 05/15/20	Forsyth		Notice site for Forsyth, Forsyth County Courthouse Closure, January 5, 2021
Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit (01/15/21)	Cherokee		Amended Order on Public Access Notice site for Cherokee
Brunswick Judicial Circuit	Appling, Camden, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Wayne		Wayne County Courthouse Closure - January 26-February 1, 2021, Glynn County Courthouse Closure, June 5 Order, Clerk of Superior Court of Camden closure Order - October 21st - 26th
Chattahoochee Circuit Updated 3/16/20	Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Muscogee, Talbot, Taylor		The Chattahoochee County Courthouse is closed, reopening August 5, 2020. Court business will be conducted at Chattahoochee Recreation Center and Old City Hall Notice site for the Chattahoochee Circuit, Talbot County Alternate Court Facility Order (June 15-22)
Clayton Circuit Updated 2/08/21	Clayton		Notice site for Clayton (separated by court class in the left menu).
Cobb Circuit Updated 2/23/21	Cobb	Municipal Court of Acworth (09/11/20), Municipal Court of Kennesaw (11/10/20), Municipal Court Notice of Clarification, Municipal Court of Marietta (12/09/20) , Magistrate Court of Cobb (Notice) Probate Court of Cobb (Notice)	Notice site for Cobb
Conasauga Judicial Circuit	Murry , Whitfield
Cordele Judicial Circuit	Ben Hill, Crisp, Dooly, Wilcox		The Wilcox County Courthouse is closed and will reopen November 20, 2020.
Coweta Circuit Updated 09/21/20	Carroll, Coweta, Heard, Meriwether, Troup	Municipal Court of Grantville, Coweta	Meriwether Superior Court Clerk's office closure, January 5, 2021
Dougherty Judicial Circuit (02/09/21)	Dougherty	Municipal Court of Albany, Dougherty
Eastern Circuit Updated 3/24/20	Chatham	Order Establishing Guidelines for In-Person Court Proceedings (06/03/20) Juvenile Court of Chatham Municipal Court of Bloomingdale, Chatham	Notice site for Chatham Order on Temporary Designation of an Alternative Facility for the Conduct of Judicial Business (Grand Jury)
Enotah Circuit	Lumpkin, Towns, Union, White		Notice sites for Lumpkin, Towns, Union, White
Flint Judicial Circuit (07/01/20)	Henry		Notice sites for Superior, Juvenile, State, Probate, Magistrate
Griffin Judicial Circuit	Fayette, Spalding, Pike, Upson		Upson County Courthouse closure order (01/11/21)
Gwinnett Circuit Updated 3/30/20	Gwinnett	Municipal Court of Dututh (04/08/20) , Municipal Court of Suwanee (02/08/21)	Notice site for Gwinnett
Houston Circuit	Houston		Notice site for Houston
Lookout Mountain Circuit (1/29/2021)	Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Walker		The Walker County Courthouse is closed and will reopen December 7, 2020 Media Advisory for Catoosa County court operations for 11/20 through 11/27 Order for Clousure of Offices at Catoosa County Court House Notice site for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit
Macon Circuit	Bibb, Crawford, Peach		Macon-Bibb Guidelines for Court Proceedings for Courts in the Macon Judicial Circuit. Notice site for Peach
Middle Judicial Circuit	Candler, Emanuel, Jefferson, Toombs, Washington		Jefferson County Courthouse is CLOSED from June 29, 2020 through until July 9, 2020. Washington County Courthouse is CLOSED and will reopen July 16, 2020
Mountain Circuit Updated 09/18/20	Habersham (09/23/20), Rabun, Stephens		Notice site for Habersham, Stephens. See the Mountain Circuit 04/06 Emergency Order Amendment for information regarding the use of video conferences, Order Establishing Jury Committee (07/30/20)
Northeastern Judicial Circuit	Dawson ( 10/16/20), Hall( 10/16/20)		Notice site for the Northeastern Circuit, Hall County Superior and State Court Clerk's Office alternative location order (07/01/20), Hall County alternate facility - Municipal Courtroom (10/16/20), Flowery Branch Municipal Court - order to appear via video conference (2/16/21), Dawson - order for temporary health measures (12/31/20 - 02/28/21), Hall - order for temporary health measures (12/31/20 - 02/28/21)
Northern Circuit Updated 05/29/20	Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison, Oglethorpe	Superior Court of Oglethorpe (11/02/20) Superior Court of Hart (02/01/21) Superior Court of Franklin County	Emergency Order Authorizing Off-Site Jury Trial Proceedings in Hart County, Georgia (03/23/21), Offsite Grand Jury Proceedings will convene at the Carnesville Elementary Primary School, 825 Hull Drive, Carnesville, GA 30521
Ocmulgee Circuit	Baldwin, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam , Wilkinson		Notice sites for Baldwin, Jasper, Jones, Putnam. Jones County Courthouse is closed to the public until further notice.
Oconee Judicial Circuit	Bleckley, Dodge, Montgomery, Pulaski, Telfair, Wheeler	Telfair Magistrate court: Closed immediately until 10/22	Dodge County Courthouse Annex closed through 6/28/20 ., Telfair Magistrate court: Closed immediately until 10/22
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit	Bulloch, Effingham, Jenkins, Screven		Bulloch County Courthouse is CLOSED from July 7, to July 9 for cleaning., Closure of Screven County Courthouse located in Sylvania, Ga August 14th, 2020
Pataula Judicial Circuit (04/09/20)	Clay, Early, Miller, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, Terrell	Municipal Court of Dawson, Terrell	Pataula Circuit notice site with Guidelines for Conducting In-Person Court Proceedings.
Paulding Circuit	Paulding
Piedmont Circuit	Banks, Barrow, Jackson	Magistrate Court of Barrow (Notice: 3/17/20), Municipal Court of Jefferson Updated 4/08/20	Banks County Administrative Order - Guidelines for Court Proceedings Barrow County Administrative Order - Guidelines for Court Proceedings Jackson County Administrative Order - Guidelines for Court Proceedings
Rockdale Circuit Updated 2/08/21	Rockdale		A mask is required when enter the Rockdale County Courthouse., Order Regarding Grand Jury - October 2020 Term of the Rockdale County
Rome Judicial Circuit Updated 6/5/20	Floyd		The Floyd County Courthouse is CLOSED to the public until June 22, 2020 (June 8 order).
Southern Circuit	Brooks, Colquitt, Echols, Lowndes, Thomas
South Georgia Circuit	Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Grady, Mitchell		The Baker County Courthouse is closed to the general public. The Calhoun County Courthouse is closed to the general public. See the Calhoun Judicial Emergency Order for more info.
Southwestern Circuit	Lee, Macon, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Webster	Magistrate Court, Lee Municipal Court of Leslie, Sumter
Stone Mountain Circuit Updated 08/11/20	Dekalb		Notice sites for Superior, State, Juvenile, Probate, Magistrate
Tallapoosa Circuit	Haralson (11/09/20), Polk
Tifton Circuit	Irwin, Tift, Turner, Worth	Magistrate Court of Irwin (Notice) Municipal Court of Sylvester, Worth
Toombs Judicial Circuit	Glascock, Lincoln, McDuffie, Taliaferro, Warren, Wilkes		Wilkes County Temporary Location for Empaneling Grand Juries (11/4/20), Glascock County Courthouse closure order (Closed through 01/03/20, reopening 01/04/20)
Towaliga Circuit	Butts, Lamar, Monroe	Magistrate Court of Butts (12/21/20) Magistrate Court of Lamar
Waycross Judicial Circuit (01/08/21)	Bacon, Brantley (09/17/20), Charlton, Coffee, Pierce, Ware	Municipal Court of Waycross Guidelines, Magistrate Court of Ware	Pierce County Probate is closed and will reopen January 4, 2021.
Western Circuit (06/03)	Clarke, Oconee	Oconee Juvenile (03/31)	Standing Order for Court Procedures (Juvenile, Magistrate, Municipal, Probate, State, Superior) Athens-Clarke County Courthouse is closed through July 17, 2020 for cleaning. Athens Municipal Court Notice (04/06/20), Notice site for Clarke County

Additional Information

Provisional Admission to the Practice of Law in Georgia

The Supreme Court of Georgia Reschedules Bar Exam

Memo to Courts from DDS

Memo from the Board of Court Reporting re the Emergency Order and 120 day rule

Statewide Judicial Emergency and Accountability Court Operations (03/17/20)

Memorandum regarding the impact on the Council of Accountability Court Judges