Location of Clerk's Office in Place Other Than Courthouse; Storage of Archival or Inactive Records in Different Location; County Documents Exception

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Courts
  4. Superior Courts
  5. Clerks of Superior Courts
  6. Location of Clerk's Office in Place Other Than Courthouse; Storage of Archival or Inactive Records in Different Location; County Documents Exception

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  1. In the event that the space at the courthouse is inadequate for the clerk's office and the things belonging thereto, the clerk, in writing, may request the governing authority of the county to move his or her office to some other designated place in the county. In his or her request, the clerk shall state the inadequacy which exists. The governing authority shall be authorized to comply with the request but may only designate another place as the office of the clerk with the approval of the clerk. Such place must be owned by the county or a body politic and shall not be more than 500 feet from the courthouse at their nearest points. Notwithstanding local law, the judges of the superior court of the judicial circuit by a majority vote must give written consent before the clerk shall be authorized to move his or her office to such place; provided, however, that failing a majority agreement the chief judge of the judicial circuit shall make such determination.
  2. In the event that space at the courthouse or other place where the office of the clerk is located is inadequate to ensure the safe storage of archival or inactive records, the clerk, after obtaining written approval from the governing authority of the county, may cause the records to be stored at a data storage and retrieval facility within the State of Georgia. The clerk shall give public notice of the place of storage by posting notice at the courthouse. If documents are stored in any place other than the location where the documents were created, filed, or recorded, the government entity shall:
    1. Bear all costs of transporting such documents back to the county of origin for purposes of responding to requests under Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50, relating to inspections of public records; and
    2. Provide by contract for:
      1. Specific retrieval times in which documents requested shall be delivered; and
      2. Payment of additional fees by the person requesting the document from the clerk for expedited service.
  3. In a county where the county site is located in an unincorporated area of the county and the county governing authority has constructed one or more permanent satellite courthouses within the county and has further designated each such structure as a courthouse annex or has otherwise established each such structure as an additional courthouse to the courthouse located at the county site, the clerk of superior court shall be authorized to maintain his or her offices and all things belonging thereto including the permanent records at one of the additional courthouse locations or at the courthouse at the county site. The clerk of superior court may, but shall not be required to, maintain a satellite office at an additional courthouse which is not the location of the clerk of superior court's main office where the permanent records are kept. No one may for any purpose remove records of the clerk of superior court from the courthouse or the clerk's satellite office without the written consent of the clerk; provided, however, that a judge or the judge's designee may check out a record or file for a case assigned to such judge upon providing a written receipt for such record or file to the clerk.
  4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section, county documents, as defined in subsection (c) of Code Section 36-9-5, shall be stored only in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 36-9-5.

(Laws 1799, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 573; Laws 1807, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 199; Laws 1810, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 577; Laws 1850, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 455; Code 1863, § 262; Code 1868, § 256; Code 1873, § 267; Code 1882, § 267; Civil Code 1895, § 4360; Civil Code 1910, § 4891; Code 1933, § 24-2714; Ga. L. 1960, p. 120, § 1; Ga. L. 1965, p. 625, § 1; Ga. L. 1967, p. 648, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 2107, § 7.1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1983, p. 653, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1068, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 925, § 2; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1159, § 3; Ga. L. 2012, p. 173, § 1-20/HB 665.)

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Records which cannot be destroyed cannot be stored in an unlocked storage room for such would not insure the records' safe storage as required. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-202.

Limitations on storage of records in archives.

- Clerks of superior courts may store the clerks' records in the archives only if the clerks' courthouse is within five miles of the archives building. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-92 (rendered prior to 1996 amendment).


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