2023 CODE OF GEORGIA › Title 15 - COURTS (§§ 15-1-1 — 15-25-3) › Chapter 6 - SUPERIOR COURTS (§§ 15-6-1 — 15-6-100) › Article 2 - CLERKS OF SUPERIOR COURTS (§§ 15-6-50 — 15-6-100) › Section 15-6-61 - Duties of clerks generally; computerized record-keeping system

(a)
It is the duty of a clerk of superior court:
(1)
To keep the clerk's office and all things belonging thereto at the county site and at the courthouse or at such other place or places as authorized by law;
(2)
To attend to the needs of the court through the performance of the duties of the clerk required and enumerated by law, or as defined in court order, or rules;
(3)
To issue and sign every summons, writ, execution, process, order, or other paper under authority of the court and attach seals thereto when necessary. The clerk shall be authorized to issue and sign under authority of the court any order to show cause in any pending litigation and any other order in the nature of a rule nisi, where no injunctive or extraordinary relief is granted;
(4)
To keep in the clerk's office the following:
(A)
An automated civil case management system which shall contain separate case number entries for all civil actions filed in the office of the clerk, including complaints, proceedings, Uniform Interstate Family Support Act actions, domestic relations, contempt actions, motions and modifications on closed civil actions, any postjudgment proceeding filed more than 30 days after judgment or dismissal in an action, and all other actions civil in nature except adoptions;
(B)
An automated criminal case management system which shall contain a summary record of all criminal indictments in which true bills are rendered and all criminal accusations filed in the office of clerk of superior court in accordance with uniform standards issued by The Council of Superior Court Clerks of Georgia pursuant to subsection (f) of Code Section
15-6-50.2
. The criminal case management system shall contain entries of other matters of a criminal nature filed with the clerk, including quasi-civil proceedings and entries of cases which are ordered dead docketed. When a case is dead docketed, all witnesses who may have been subpoenaed therein shall be released from further attendance until resubpoenaed; and
(C)
A docket, file, series of files, book or series of books, microfilm records, or electronic data base for recording all deeds, liens, executions, lis pendens, maps and plats, and all other documents concerning or evidencing title to real or personal property. When any other law of this state refers to a general execution docket, lis pendens docket, or attachment docket, such other law shall be deemed to refer to the docket or other record or records provided for in this subparagraph, regardless of the format used to store such docket;
(5)
To keep all the books, papers, dockets, and records belonging to the office with care and security and to keep the papers filed, arranged, numbered, and labeled, so as to be of easy reference;
(6)
To keep at the clerk's office all publications of the laws of the United States furnished by the state and all publications of the laws and journals of this state, all statute laws and digests, this Code, which shall be paid for from county or law library funds, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals reports, and all other law books or other public documents distributed to the clerk, for the public's convenience; provided, however, that the clerk may consent that these publications be maintained in the public law library;
(7)
To procure a substantial seal of office with the name of the court and the county inscribed thereon;
(8)
To make out and deliver to any applicant, upon payment to the clerk of legal fees, a correct transcript, properly certified, of any minute, record, or file of the clerk's office except for such records or documents which are, by provision of law, not to be released;
(9)
Upon payment of legal fees to the clerk, to make out a transcript of the record of each case to be considered by the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals and a duplicate thereof numbered in exact accordance with the numbering of the pages of the original transcript of the record to be transmitted to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals;
(10)
To make a notation on all conveyances of real or personal property, including liens, of the date and time they were filed for recordation, which shall be evidence of the facts stated. When the clerk accepts an instrument or document for filing, the clerk shall note the date and time of receipt of such instrument or document on the instrument or document. All liens or conveyances presented to the clerk for filing shall be on 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch or 8 1/2 inch by 14 inch paper or the digital equivalent and shall have a three-inch margin at the top to allow space for the clerk's notation required by this paragraph. The clerk shall not record any instrument or document conveying real or personal property, including liens, that is not prepared as required by this paragraph and without receiving all required fees and taxes that are due in connection with such filing. The notation required by this paragraph may be made by the clerk or the clerk's deputy or employee by written signature, facsimile signature, mechanical printing, or electronic signature or stamp;
(11)
To attest deeds and other written instruments for registration;
(12)
To administer all oaths required by the court or that may otherwise be required by law and to record all oaths required by law;
(13)
To transmit to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority or its designated agent within 24 hours of filing of any financing statement, amendment to a financing statement, assignment of a financing statement, continuation statement, termination statement, or release of collateral, by facsimile or other electronic means, such information and in such form and manner as may be required by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, for the purpose of including such information in the central indexing system administered by such authority; provided, however, that weekends and holidays shall not be included in the calculation of the 24 hour period;
(14)
To remit to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority a portion of all fees collected with respect to the filings of financing statements, amendments to financing statements, assignments of financing statements, continuation statements, termination statements, releases of collateral, or any other documents related to personal property and included in the central index, in accordance with the rules and regulations of such authority regarding the amount and payment of such fees; provided, however, that such fees shall be remitted to the authority not later than the tenth day of the month following the collection of such fees, and the clerk shall not be required to remit such fees more often than once a week;
(15)
To participate in the state-wide uniform automated information system for real and personal property records, as provided for by Code Sections
15-6-97
and
15-6-98
, and any network established by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority relating to the transmission and retrieval of electronic information concerning real estate and personal property data for any such information systems established by such authority so as to provide for public access to real estate and personal property information, including liens filed pursuant to Code Section
44-2-2
and maps and plats. Each clerk of superior court shall provide to the authority or its designated agent in accordance with the rules and regulations of the authority such real estate information concerning or evidencing title to real property and such personal property information or access to such information which is of record in the office of clerk of superior court and which is necessary to establish and maintain the information system, including information filed pursuant to Code Section
44-2-2
and maps and plats. Each clerk of superior court shall provide and transmit real estate and personal property information filed in the office of clerk of superior court, including information required by Code Section
44-2-2
and maps and plats, to the authority for testing and operation of the information system at such times and in such form as prescribed by the authority;
(16)
To participate in any network established by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority relating to the transmission and retrieval of electronic information concerning carbon sequestration results and related transactions for any such information systems established by such authority for purposes of the carbon sequestration registry established pursuant to Article 5 of Chapter 6 of Title 12, so as to provide for public access to carbon sequestration registry information. Each clerk of superior court shall provide to the authority or its designated agent in accordance with the rules and regulations of the authority such information evidencing carbon sequestration results and related transactions and access to such information which is of record in the office of clerk of superior court and which is necessary for purposes of the carbon sequestration registry. Each clerk of superior court shall provide and transmit carbon sequestration results and related transaction information filed in the office of clerk of superior court to the authority for testing and operation of the electronic information system for the carbon sequestration registry at such times and in such form as prescribed by the authority. Each clerk shall charge and collect such fees as may be established by the Georgia Superior Courts Clerks' Cooperative Authority, which shall be paid into the county treasury less and except any sums as are otherwise directed to be paid to the authority, all in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the authority pursuant to Code Section
15-6-97.2
;
(17)
To file all civil case filing and disposition forms and transmit the data contained on such forms to the Administrative Office of the Courts through electronic means provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts for such purpose which shall constitute the only transmission of such data required between the clerks of the superior courts and the Administrative Office of the Courts;
(18)
To electronically collect all data elements required pursuant to subsection (g) of Code Section
35-3-36
, and such clerk of superior court shall transmit such data to the Georgia Crime Information Center, in a form and format required by and consistent with uniform standards issued by The Council of Superior Court Clerks of Georgia pursuant to subsection (f) of Code Section
15-6-50.2
and shall provide the data to the Administrative Office of the Courts for use by the state judicial branch upon request. Public access to said data shall remain the responsibility of only the Georgia Crime Information Center;
(19)
To participate in agreements, contracts, and networks necessary or convenient for the performance of duties required by law;
(20)
To perform such other duties required by law or as necessarily appertain to the office of clerk of superior court; and
(21)
To keep an automated, computer based jury management system that facilitates the maintenance of the county master jury list pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 12 of this title unless such duty is delegated to a jury clerk as provided in subsection (a) of Code Section
15-12-11
or Code Section
15-12-12
.
(b)
Nothing in this Code section shall restrict or otherwise prohibit a clerk from electing to store for computer retrieval any or all records, dockets, indices, or files; nor shall a clerk be prohibited from combining or consolidating any books, dockets, files, or indices in connection with the filing for record of papers of the kind specified in this Code section or any other law, provided that any automated or computerized record-keeping method or system shall provide for the systematic and safe preservation and retrieval of all books, dockets, records, or indices. When the clerk of superior court elects to store for computer retrieval any or all records, the same data elements used in a manual system shall be used, and the same integrity and security maintained. Regardless of the automated or computerized system elected, each clerk shall maintain and make readily available to the public real estate grantor and grantee indices, which shall be updated regularly and prepared in compliance with paragraph (15) of subsection (a) of this Code section and Code Section
15-6-66
. A clerk of superior court shall be deemed to satisfy the provisions of subsection (i) of Code Section
50-18-71
when on-site, electronic access to computerized indices of county records is provided to the public during regular business hours and in compliance with this Code section.
Amended by 2023 Ga. Laws 88,§ 7, eff. 5/1/2023.
Amended by 2022 Ga. Laws 717,§ 6, eff. 7/1/2022.
Amended by 2019 Ga. Laws 271,§ 6-2, eff. 5/7/2019.
Amended by 2018 Ga. Laws 416,§ 1-2, eff. 7/1/2018.
Amended by 2017 Ga. Laws 240,§ 2-5, eff. 1/1/2018.
Amended by 2014 Ga. Laws 578,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2014.
Amended by 2014 Ga. Laws 488,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2014.
Amended by 2012 Ga. Laws 599,§ I-1-10, eff. 7/1/2012.
Amended by 2011 Ga. Laws 50,§ 1-3, eff. 7/1/2011.
Amended by 2008 Ga. Laws 471,§ 15, eff. 5/12/2008.
Amended by 2004 Ga. Laws 471, § 2, eff. upon the effective date of a specific appropriation of funds as expressed in a line item of an appropriations Act enacted by the General Assembly.
Amended by 2002 Ga. Laws 820, §§ 1, 2, eff. 1/1/2004
Amended by 2001 Ga. Laws 305, §1, eff. 7/1/2001.