Magistrate Courts in Georgia
Magistrate court jurisdiction includes: civil claims
of $15,000 or less; certain minor criminal offenses; distress warrants
and dispossessory writs; county ordinance violations; deposit account
fraud (bad checks); preliminary hearings; and summonses, arrest and
search warrants. A chief magistrate, who may be assisted by one or more
magistrates, presides over each of Georgia’s 159 magistrate courts.
Magistrates may grant bail in cases where the setting of bail is not
exclusively reserved to a judge of another court. No jury trials are
held in magistrate court. If a defendant submits a written request for
a jury trial, cases may be removed to superior or state court.
The chief magistrate of each county assigns cases, sets court sessions,
appoints other magistrates (with the consent of the superior court judges)
and sets policy for the magistrate court. The number of magistrates
in addition to the chief is usually set by majority vote of the county’s
superior court judges.
Most chief magistrates are elected in partisan, countywide elections
to four-year terms. The chief magistrate may be appointed, if so provided
by local legislation. Terms for other magistrate judges run concurrently
with that of the chief magistrate who appointed them.
To qualify as a magistrate, an individual must reside in the county
for at least one year preceding his or her term of office, be 25 years
of age, and have a high school diploma or its equivalent. A magistrate
court judge may also serve as a judge of another limited jurisdiction
court in the same county.
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