Georgia Court Structure, Rules, and Recordkeeping
What this domain tests
This domain tests your working map of Georgia's courts and the recordkeeping rules that determine where a transcript goes and when. Reporters who know the appellate path can anticipate deadlines and route a filed transcript to the correct clerk.
Core rules
- Supreme Court of Georgia: nine justices; hears direct appeals in death penalty cases, constitutional questions, and election contests, and grants certiorari in other matters.
- Court of Appeals of Georgia: fifteen judges sitting in panels; hears the bulk of appeals, both civil and criminal.
- Superior Courts: forty-nine circuits, general trial jurisdiction - felonies, divorce, title to land, equity.
- State Courts: misdemeanors and civil claims within statutory limits. Magistrate Courts: warrants, bond, small claims. Probate Courts: estates, guardianship, marriage licenses. Juvenile Courts: delinquency and dependency. Municipal Courts: ordinance violations. A statewide business court handles complex commercial cases.
- The state is divided into judicial administrative districts, each with an administrative judge supervising caseload and reporting practices.
- Recordkeeping: the clerk of the superior court is custodian of filed records; the reporter's notes and transcript remain the reporter's responsibility until filed.
- Deadlines: a civil notice of appeal is filed within 30 days of judgment under O.C.G.A. § 5-6-38; the transcript is then filed with the trial-court clerk within 30 days of the notice of appeal under § 5-6-41 (c), with extensions by order; the clerk transmits the record to the appellate court.
Worked example
A superior court enters final judgment on a contract claim on March 1. The losing party files a notice of appeal on March 20. The transcript is due to the clerk of the superior court on or about April 19 - 30 days from the notice of appeal, not 30 days from judgment. Reasoning: the two 30-day clocks run from different events, and confusing them is the single most common filing error reporters face. The transcript is filed locally; the clerk, not the reporter, transmits it.
Traps that cost marks
- Sending a transcript directly to the Court of Appeals instead of the trial-court clerk.
- Counting the transcript deadline from the judgment date rather than the notice of appeal.
- Assuming every appeal goes to the Supreme Court.
- Forgetting that constitutional questions change the appellate destination.
- Treating filed exhibits as the reporter's property after filing.