Cobb County Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor’s office has been embroiled in controversy for over half of her four-year elected term.
She came under fire in 2022 for her collection of passport processing fees as personal income — more than $425,000 in less than two years, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found. She has been investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for alleged violations of Georgia’s Open Records Act.
Now, disorder in her office has led to near-catastrophic disruption of courthouse operations, attorneys say.
On Wednesday, Cobb County Superior Court Chief Judge Gregory Poole issued a 30-day emergency order that suspends filing deadlines and other administrative requirements in civil and criminal cases after Taylor’s office unsuccessfully tried to transfer the online filing service to a new provider. The failure has led to “a severe disruption in access to records and other critical functions of the court,” according to the order.
“We can’t access documents for our clients. We can’t find out anything that’s been filed by the state,” said criminal defense attorney Kim Frye, who is based in Cobb County. “It’s a big, giant mess, because that’s just a black hole of documents. Their number one duty is to take the documents and file them safely, and then we should be able to at least see them.
“Somebody absolutely needs to have an investigation about it.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The rare emergency order, called “an extraordinary step” in a press release from the court, suspends deadlines and penalties for litigants and attorneys who can no longer keep track of cases and schedules. The press release said the clerk attempted to switch providers “without consultation with judicial stakeholders.” The new provider told the court administrator that it wasn’t given enough time to complete the job, according to the order.
“The Chief Judge ... with the full support of the other 10 Superior Court judges in Cobb, concluded that these issues are so serious as to impact or have the potential to impact due process and other constitutional rights of litigants,” the press release said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Taylor repeatedly declined to comment Thursday through her office’s staff at the courthouse. It is unclear what steps she and her office are taking to address the issues.
“What is the game plan? And the problem is: there is no game plan,” Frye said.
Taylor, a Democrat first elected in 2020, faced three primary challenges in the May elections and won with 53% of the votes. In November, she faces Republican challenger Deborah Dance, former Cobb County Attorney.
“It’s devastating to the practice of law and the administration of justice to have these issues continue on and on without abatement or being addressed,” said Dance, who also pointed out that the issues go beyond faulty technology. “The judges have been vocal about the issues for quite some time.”
Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady said in a statement he supports the judge’s decision to issue the emergency order and wants to recognize the staff’s work taking “additional steps to make sure all filings and paperwork are in order, protecting the rights of everyone involved in our criminal justice system.”
Several attorneys in the courthouse Thursday expressed frustration with the situation.
“I don’t know when my clients have certain court appearances like arraignments. I don’t know until the day of, and that’s frustrating,” said Reid Kennedy, a criminal defense attorney. “It’s a mess, isn’t it?”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
David Andrews, a defendant in a robbery case, said he missed a day of work and waited at the courthouse for hours to appear in court for no reason because the schedule notice he received was wrong.
“Finally, at the end of the day, my lawyer went in front of the judge to let them know I was here, and they said that they forgot to put my name on the original roster,” Andrews said. “So yeah, I missed all of work, that whole day.”
Frye said she was worried for those who are navigating the court system without an attorney. They were more likely to face penalties and possible jail time, had the judge’s emergency order suspending those rules not been implemented.
“They could get arrested when they shouldn’t have been,” she said. “If they don’t receive notice to appear in court, they could go to jail and not be allowed to get out, lose their jobs, lose their homes. So it’s a big deal.”
Trial attorney and former prosecutor Chuck Boring called emergency orders “very, very rare.” He said attorneys and judges are “at their wit’s end.”
“The entire system is at threat of having to shut down because of one of the cogs in the system just not doing their job,” Boring said.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
At least one judge has taken it upon himself to send out notices, Frye said, placing an extra burden on courtroom staff to make sure people know about their cases.
Several attorneys said they have not heard of anyone being arrested for failing to appear in court, because judges have taken steps to be more lenient for a long time, given the administrative issues.
“But if they didn’t then, yeah, my clients would be in jail for missing court when they didn’t even know they had it,” Kennedy said.
Taylor faced an investigation with the GBI that began in 2022 after a whistleblower employee alleged she ordered staff to delete records rather than hand them over to the AJC in response to a request under the Georgia Open Records Act. The GBI’s investigation was concluded this year, and the case has been referred to Attorney General Chris Carr for review.
“Our investigation is open and ongoing,” said Kara Murray, the AG’s spokeswoman. “As with any case, even after we receive the GBI’s file, we continue with a thorough analysis of the findings and follow up on any new information gathered in the process.”
Dance, the Republican who is hoping to oust Taylor from her role in November, said she entered the race because of the ongoing problems in the clerk’s office.
“The public ought to know exactly what’s going on with this office so that we can make informed decisions at the time of the election,” Dance said.
