Title 15

(a) There shall be a clerk of the Georgia State-wide Business Court. Such clerk shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to approval by a majority vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a majority vote of the House Committee on Judiciary. The Senate Judiciary Committee and…

(a) The offices of the judge and clerk of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall sit at the seat of government in Atlanta or shall sit in Macon-Bibb County pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 15-5A-2. (b) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court, in coordina…

(a) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be authorized to appoint law assistants for the use of the court and to remove them at pleasure. Each law assistant of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall have been admitted to the bar of this state as a practic…

The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court may employ and fix the salaries of stenographers, clerical assistants, and such other employees as may be deemed necessary by the court; and the salaries therefor shall be paid by the clerk from the amount appropriated by the Gene…

The Georgia State-wide Business Court shall purchase such books, pamphlets, or other publications, whether in hard copy or digital format, and such other supplies and services as the judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court may deem necessary. The costs thereof shall be pai…

The Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be a budget unit as defined in Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 12 of Title 45, the ‘‘Budget Act’’; provided, however, that the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be assigned for administrative purposes only to the Court of Appeals. H…

(a) The terms of court for the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be the same as the terms of court for the Supreme Court. (b) The Georgia State-wide Business Court shall sit at the seat of government in Atlanta or shall sit in Macon-Bibb County and shall conduct proceedings…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, pursuant to the process provided for in Code Section 15-5A-4, the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall have authority to: (1) Exercise concurrent jurisdiction and the powers of a court of equity, to the extent that…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, all claims provided for under Code Section 15-5A-3 may only come before the Georgia State-wide Business Court by: (1) Any party filing a pleading with the Georgia State-wide Business Court to initiate a civil action th…

(a) The fee for filing a case with, or having a case transferred or removed to, the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be $3,000.00, to be paid by: (1) The party or parties filing the action in, or seeking transfer to, the Georgia State-wide Business Court under paragraph (1) …

(a) The Georgia State-wide Business Court shall consist of one judge and one division. (b) The court shall commence operations on January 1, 2020, and may commence accepting cases on August 1, 2020. (c) No individual shall be a judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court unles…

(a) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to approval by a majority vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a majority vote of the House Committee on Judiciary. The Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on J…

Before entering on the duties of his or her office, the judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall take the oath required of all civil officers in addition to the following oath: ‘‘I swear that I will administer justice without respect to person and do equal rights to t…

(a)(1) The annual salary of the judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be as specified in Code Section 45-7-4. Such salary shall be paid in equal monthly installments. (2) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall receive expenses and allowances as pro…

The entire state is divided into judicial circuits, in reference to the jurisdiction and sessions of the superior courts, as follows: (1) Alapaha Judicial Circuit, composed of the Counties of Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier; (2) Alcovy Judicial Circuit, composed of th…

Each of the judges of the superior courts shall discharge all the duties required of him by the Constitution and laws for the circuit for which he was elected or appointed and may also hold court and exercise other judicial functions for other circuits when permitted by law. Hist…

(a) Pursuant to rules promulgated by the Criminal Case Data Exchange Board, on and after January 1, 2019, a superior court shall provide for the filing of pleadings in criminal cases and any other document related thereto and for the acceptance of payments and remittances by elect…

(a) Any judge of superior court who is performing ordered military duty, as defined in Code Section 38-2-279, shall be eligible for reelection in any primary or general election which may be held to elect a successor for the next term of office and may qualify in absentia as a can…

(a) The jurisdiction of the judges of the superior courts is coextensive with the limits of this state; they may act in circuits other than their own when authorized by law, but they are not compelled to alternate unless required by law. (b) The authority granted in subsection (a…

(a) When from any cause a judge of the superior court is disqualified from presiding in a matter, he shall procure the services of another superior court judge to try the matter, even if he has to call for a special term of court for that purpose. (b) Failure of a judge to comply …

(a) When from any cause the judge of the superior court or any city court is disqualified from presiding in any civil case and has failed to procure the services of a judge to try the case, then the parties litigant, by consent, may select any attorney of this state to preside in …

(a) Whenever it is satisfactorily made to appear to the Governor that any regular term of the superior court, as fixed by law, in any county, will not be held or continued in session because of the bodily or mental sickness or other disability of the judge of the superior court of…

No judge of the superior courts shall have authority to perform any judicial act required of him by law when he is beyond the jurisdiction of this state. History. — Orig. Code 1863, § 248; Code 1868, § 242; Code 1873, § 253; Code 1882, § 253; Civil Code 1895, § 4330; Civil Code 1…

(a) One or more of the judges of the superior courts must hold the superior court of each circuit at the county site and courthouse, if any, of each county in the respective judicial circuit or at some other place at the county site designated by law not less than twice each year…

(a) If for any cause it shall or may be impracticable to hold any session or sitting of any superior or state court at the courthouse or other place provided by law therefor, it shall be lawful to hold court and any session or sitting thereof at such place as the proper authoriti…

— In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, annotations decided prior to the amendment to Code Section 15-6-19 passed by Ga. L. 1972, p. 713, which changed the terms of court, are included in the annotations for this Code section. Judgment not void if rendered at co…

The number of judges for each of the superior courts for each of the judicial circuits shall be as follows: (1) Alapaha Circuit .................................................... 2 (2) Alcovy Circuit ...................................................... 5 (2.1) Appalachian Cir…

The judges of the superior courts may, in their discretion, hold special terms of court in any county within their respective circuits when the business requires it to close the dockets and may, in the exercise of a sound discretion, cause new juries to be drawn for the same or m…

(a) In a county with less than 100,000 inhabitants, it shall be the duty of the judge of the superior, state, or city court, unless providentially hindered or unless counsel for the plaintiff and the defendant agree in writing to extend the time, to decide promptly, within 30 day…

(a) The judge may, during a term of court, adjourn the court to such time as he may think fit. (b) In case of unavoidable accidents, whereby the superior court in any county is not held at the time appointed for holding the same, the clerk of court shall adjourn the court from day…

Any judge of the superior courts may sign any document connected with the official duties of his office in any county comprising a part of his circuit, including all writs, orders, judgments, and warrants required to be signed by the judge. The document may be signed by the judge…

(a) Any contingent expenses incurred in holding any session of the superior court, including lights, fuel, stationery, rent, publication of grand jury presentments when ordered published, and similar items, such as taking down testimony in felony cases, etc., shall be paid out of…

(a) Each superior court judge is authorized to employ a secretary. (b) All personnel actions involving secretaries appointed pursuant to this Code section shall be in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 15-6-27. History. — Ga. L. 1972, p. 617, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1506…

(a) All state paid personnel employed by the superior court judges pursuant to this article shall be employees of the judicial branch of state government and shall be in the unclassified service as defined by Code Section 45-20-2. (b) Personnel employed pursuant to this Code sectio…

(a) The chief judge of each judicial circuit is authorized to employ either one law assistant or one court administrator for the circuit. Each judicial circuit is authorized to employ additional law assistants and administrators subject to availability of funds. (b) The chief jud…

(b) The annual salary shall be the total compensation to be paid by the state to the superior court judges and shall be in lieu of any and all other amounts to be paid from The Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia, except as provided in Code Sections 15-6-29.1, 15-6-30, an…

The terms of court for the superior courts for each of the judicial circuits shall commence as follows: (1) Alapaha Circuit: (A) Atkinson County — First Monday in April and October. (B) Berrien County — First Monday in February and August. (C) Clinch County — Third Monday in Marc…

(a) The judges of the superior courts of this state shall be entitled to receive, in addition to the compensation provided by law, reimbursement of travel expenses incurred when such a judge attends any court in his or her judicial circuit other than the court in the county of th…

Effective July 1, 2008, the ministerial functions of the commissioner of administrative services or of the Department of Administrative Services relating to the payment of salaries, benefits, and expenses of superior court judges, and other state paid personnel authorized by this …

Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, the judges and senior judges of the superior courts of this state are authorized to accept and receive from funds appropriated for the operation of the superior courts to the extent not eligible for reimbursement from funds appropria…

The several judges of the superior courts may convene at the seat of government once each year, at such time as they or a majority of them may appoint, for the purpose of recommending to the General Assembly the establishment of uniform rules of practice throughout the several ci…

(a) There is created a superior court judges’ council to be known as ‘‘The Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia.’’ The council shall be composed of the judges, senior judges, and judges emeriti of the superior courts of this state. The council is authorized to organize its…

The sheriff shall have the right to select such bailiffs, with the approval of the court, as may be necessary to transact properly the business thereof. Whenever the public interests require it, the judge shall have the power to appoint such additional bailiffs as the judge deems…

(a) For the purposes of this Code section, ‘‘conviction’’ means any felony conviction of a person who is at least 17 years of age. (b) Within 30 days of any proceeding ending in a conviction, the superior court shall provide written notice of the conviction to the school superint…

(a) No individual shall be judge of the superior courts unless, at the time of his or her election, he or she has attained the age of 30 years, has been a citizen of the state for three years, has practiced law for seven years, and is a member in good standing with the State Bar …

Each judge of the superior courts shall be elected by the electors of the judicial circuit in which the judge is to serve. History. — Code 1981, § 15-6-4.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 328, § 1.