Magistrate Court COVID-19 Backlog Elimination

The Clayton County Magistrate Court has experienced increased case backlogs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the 4^th busiest magistrate court in the State of Georgia, the court handles over 33,000 cases per year over nine different types of court hearings: 

• First Appearance
• Preliminary Hearings
• Bond Hearings
• Dispossessory (more commonly known as Evictions) Hearings
• Pre-Issuance Hearings
• Civil Motions, Civil Trials
• Child Abandonment Hearings, and
• County Ordinance Hearings.

At the onset of the pandemic, the court was not equipped to hold hearings. However, people still filed cases, resulting in a massive backlog. Consequently, many filed cases have not been heard yet. The Magistrate Court will hire part-time judges, office assistants, and judicial assistants to help reduce and ultimately eliminate the COVID-19 backlog. They have received ARPA funding until 2024 for this purpose.