Just seven support staff work with the judges at Fulton County Magistrate Court, which receives about 80,000 cases a year as the busiest court of its kind in Georgia. That’s not sustainable, says Chief Judge Cassandra Kirk, who is pleading with county leaders for more funding.
An additional 10 full-time employees helped the court efficiently move cases over the last couple of years, paid with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds administered by Fulton County. But that money dried up, forcing the last of those workers to leave the magistrate court in August.
The county has earmarked $5.2 million for the court in its 2025 budget. And $24.7 million is proposed for the combined clerk’s office of the county’s magistrate and superior courts.
Kirk says she needs another $711,076 to hire six extra full-time support staff, or else the community will suffer the effects of significant case delays. Without more staff, the magistrate court can only run four of its nine courtrooms at a time.
“That’s going to affect small businesses, consumers, any number of people who hope to come to court and get a quick resolution,” Kirk said. “We really need to be fully operational.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The magistrate court handles small civil cases worth up to $15,000, evictions, abandoned vehicles, property foreclosures, marriages and garnishments. It also has jurisdiction over some criminal matters such as warrant applications, child abandonment, first appearances, bond and preliminary hearings.
People can represent themselves in the magistrate court, making it widely accessible. Kirk says that also means litigants typically need more guidance from court staff.
With enough staff, the court can hear up to 400 cases a day. At present, it’s limited to fewer than 125 cases daily.
This year, the court has resolved 58,786 cases, including almost 18,000 filed in 2023. It also handled 34,677 arrest warrants, 55,092 search warrants and 11,853 eviction orders.
Kirk says the court can’t keep pace without additional staff. She said the requested funding would ensure the court meets its goal of resolving cases within a year of them being filed.
“We are a bargain,” she said. “We are just asking for sustainability.”
There are currently about 10,500 pending eviction cases, Kirk said. For landlords seeking to remove nonpaying tenants, that represents between $8.9 million and $15.7 million in lost rent each month, based on monthly rental rates between $850 and $1,500.
The court also has about 14,000 pending small claims cases. At an average value of $7,500, those cases represent $105 million in unresolved claims.
Kirk is also asking the county to reinstate $780,000 she says was taken off the court’s budget between 2023 and 2024. She said it covers the salaries of three magistrate court judges who provide support to the Fulton County Superior Court but are still paid by the magistrate court.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
In addition to Kirk, the magistrate court has 10 full-time and 16 part-time judges. Its only source of operational funding is the county. Fulton representatives did not immediately comment on the magistrate court’s funding.
In late 2021, Fulton commissioners launched “Project ORCA” with $75 million in ARPA funds to reduce backlogged cases across the county’s judicial system. That money temporarily paid the magistrate court’s 10 additional full-time employees. It also meant Kirk could pay the court’s part-time judges to hear more cases.
The magistrate court had 39,435 pending cases when the project began. In comparison, the county’s state court had 20,124 cases and its superior court had 15,888 cases. The offices of the county’s district attorney and solicitor general had an additional combined 72,762 cases.
By the end of 2023, the magistrate court had disposed of more than 33,000 of those pending cases, almost 6,000 more than its program target. Kirk said 94% of the cases pending when the project began have now been resolved.
The county has given the magistrate court between $4.2 million and $5 million in each of the last few years, less than what it has allocated to its probate, juvenile, state and superior courts.
The county’s proposed 2025 budget includes $6.5 million for the probate court, $20.5 million for the juvenile court and $32.1 million for the state court. In addition to the $24.7 million for the clerk’s office that the superior court shares with the magistrate court, the superior court is set to receive $39.1 million.
Kirk said the magistrate court, reformatted in 2014, has always been understaffed. She said a study of the court’s operations in 2016 identified a need for between 78 and 89 employees, including a minimum of 13 judicial assistants.
“We’ve never had that number,” she said. “We’ve learned to do more with less, which is not ideal.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Kirk said she plans to advocate for the magistrate court at the county’s next Board of Commissioners meeting on Dec. 18. A petition supporting extra funding for the court has more than 100 signatures.
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