ABOUT THE MAGISTRATE COURT The Magistrate Court is Georgia's small claims court. There is one in each county. Every Magistrate Court has the same jurisdictional authority. Maximum filing and service costs are established by Georgia law. All employees of the court are paid by salary rather than on a fee basis. The Magistrate Court has broad jurisdiction and the court may hear claims that do not exceed $15,000. The court can hear and decide such things as statement of claims (suits on account and damage suits), dispossessories, foreclosures on personal property, abandoned motor vehicle foreclosures, interrogatories, fifas and garnishments. Magistrate judges issue criminal arrest warrants, good behavior warrants, try county ordinance violation and misdemeanor deposit account fraud cases. The Magistrate Court has misdemeanor jurisdiction on possession of marijuana of less than one ounce, possession of alcoholic beverage by person under 21, furnishing alcoholic beverage to person under 21, shoplifting and criminal trespass. CIVIL BEFORE YOU FILE A CLAIM Does your claim exceed $15,000? Does the defendant live in Oglethorpe county? A plaintiff may sue and obtain a judgment against an individual or company and yet be no closer to collecting his debt. Why? Because a judgment is collectible only if there are assets available to satisfy the judgment. Therefore, before you file a claim, you will want to determine whether the defendant has resources available to pay a judgment. Does the defendant have a job earning sufficient wages to be subject to garnishment? Does the defendant own property? Does the defendant have a savings account? Does the defendant have sufficient equity in personal property, such as an automobile, to satisfy a judgment? Before you file a claim, determine how you will prove the claim. Do you have witnesses? Do you have a writing which proves the obligation? (I.e., a signed charge ticket or promissory note) .is the collection of the debt barred by a statute of limitation? Where does the defendant work? What is the amount of the claim? If the suit is for damages, how will you prove the defendant's liability or that the defendant caused your injury or damage? How will you prove the amount of your damages ? HOW TO FILE A CLAIM The court provides forms for filing claims. Forms are available at the Magistrate Court located at 339 West Main street in Lexington. Claims can be mailed for filing to Oglethorpe County Magistrate Court, P.O. Box 356, Lexington, Georgia 30648. The completed claim form should contain the plaintiff's full name and address, the defendant's full name(s), and address (es). The claim must state whether it is being filed against an individual or a corporation. You cannot sue a trade name. A plaintiff must name the owner(s) of a business whether that is a corporation, a partnership, or an individual. It is important that the claim form contains a concise statement describing the claim, including the amount for which you are suing. The claim form should be signed in the presence of a notary public but it may be signed in the presence of the clerk at the time of filing. The filing fee is paid by the plaintiff, however, costs are usually assessed against the losing party. Therefore, a judgment for the plaintiff would normally include the costs paid at the time of filing. SERVICE OF THE CLAIM A copy of the claim must be served upon the defendant personally or upon someone of suitable age and discretion. Service cannot be made by mail. A defendant may sign an acknowledgment of service and waiver of process and pick up their statement of claim. The Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Department serves the civil papers for the Magistrate Court. Service of dispossessory warrants may be made by tacking a copy of the warrant and summons upon the defendant's door and mailing a copy to the defendant. Personal service upon the defendant is required if the plaintiff also seeks a money judgment. AFTER SERVICE A defendant has 30 days from the date of service of a claim to either file an answer or enter a consent judgment admitting the debt and agreeing to pay the debt. After 30 days from the date of service, a defendant is in default. Forty-five days after service of the claim, the plaintiff is entitled to a judgment by default as to all liquidated amounts such as open accounts. A plaintiff must appear before the magistrate and establish the amount of his damages where a default judgment is sought as to a claim for damages such as an automobile collision. A defendant who is in default after thirty days may open the default as a matter of right within fifteen days of the date of default by paying the clerk of court all accrued cost and at the same time filing an answer and standing ready for trial. A trial will be scheduled and the plaintiff and the defendant will be notified by mail of the court date. CONSENT JUDGMENTS When a defendant wishes to admit the claim and schedule payments, he may do so within thirty days after the claim is served upon him by entering a consent judgment. A defendant wanting to enter a consent judgement must come personally to the magistrate court and complete a financial statement. The Magistrate Court prefers that the payments on a consent judgement be made directly to the plaintiff. If the defendant opts to make payments through the Magistrate Court, a clerical and accounting fee per uniform Magistrate Court rules 44.1 will be imposed. Rule 44.1 states "where plaintiff does not request partial payments be made to the court but the defendant requests to make such partial payments to the court rather than to the plaintiff, the judge may do so at the expense of the defendant and for the clerical and accounting cost incurred thereby, may charge 10%, but not less than $1.00 and not to exceed $10.00 for each payment." A payment which is paid more than three days beyond the due date violates the agreement and such a violation permits the plaintiff to request a default on the consent agreement. After a defendant has defaulted, the plaintiff may proceed to file a garnishment or obtain a fifa and have the sheriff levy upon property of the defendant. APPEAL After a hearing, either the defendant or plaintiff may file an appeal to the Superior Court of Oglethorpe County within thirty days of the judgment. An appeal takes the case into superior court as a de novo appeal. An appeal to Superior Court may be filed without the assistance of an attorney, but it is not advised because of the procedural difficulties which may be encountered by a layperson. An appealing party must pay all costs which have accrued in the Magistrate Court as well as the filing fee for Superior Court. CRIMINAL JURISDICTION CRIMINAL ARREST WARRANTS Magistrates are responsible for hearing criminal arrest warrant applications and issuing criminal warrants when probable cause is found to exist. There is a Magistrate available on call at all times in Oglethorpe County. The sheriff's office is provided with a schedule showing the name and telephone number of the Magistrate on duty. The Magistrate on duty carries a "beeper" and may be called in emergency situations. Georgia law establishes a cost of $25.00 which is charged for each criminal arrest warrant application.. The $25.00 warrant application charge is collected upon the hearing of an application whether or not a criminal warrant is issued. However, in domestic violence cases, there is no application fee. As of July 1, 2000, the law changed mandating the court to hold hearings on warrant applications unless special circumstances apply. OCGA 17-4-40, states " if application is made for a warrant by a person other than a peace officer or law enforcement officer and the application alleges the commission of an offense against the penal laws, the judge or other officer will schedule a warrant application hearing." GOOD BEHAVIOR WARRANTS The Magistrate Court also has the authority to issue good behavior warrants and require bonds for good behavior. A good behavior warrant is similar to a peace warrant, however, a good behavior warrant may be obtained by any citizen of the county who is concerned that the behavior of an individual may endanger the person or property of anyone in the county. The charge made for the hearing of an application for a good behavior warrant is $10.00. The Magistrate Court also holds commitment hearings to determine whether criminal matters should be bound over to the trial court in the case of misdemeanors and to the grand jury in the case of felonies. COUNTY ORDINANCES Violation of Oglethorpe County ordinances are tried by the magistrate court. Some of the Oglethorpe County ordinances include the solid waste, scrap tire and trash ordinance, the excessively loud and disturbing noise ordinance, the rules and regulations for on-site sewage management system's ordinance, the manufactured housing and mobile home minimum standards and installation requirements ordinance, collecting tax on harvested timber ordinance, hauling and logging operations ordinance, a criminal trespass ordinance, criminal interference with government property ordinance, and the soil erosion and sedimentation control ordinance. DEPOSIT ACCOUNT FRAUD Magistrate courts in Georgia have the authority to try misdemeanor deposit account fraud offenses. To begin prosecution of a misdemeanor bad check offense in the Magistrate Court of Oglethorpe County, it is necessary to see the Magistrate. Prior to initiating a bad check prosecution, the recipient of the check must send what is commonly known as a "10-day letter". Prior to issuing a deposit account fraud warrant, the Magistrate will need to see the green card returned from the post office showing delivery of the 10-day letter. They will also need the original returned check. MISDEMEANOR CRIMINAL JURISDICTION The Magistrate Court has misdemeanor jurisdiction on possession of marijuana of less than one ounce, possession of alcoholic beverage by person under 21, furnishing alcoholic beverage to person under 21, shoplifting and criminal trespass. Citations are issued by a law enforcement officer and the individual is sent notice of a hearing date. Parties are encouraged to bring their attorneys.