Piedmont Judicial Circuit
Piedmont Circuit Superior Court
Serving Barrow and Jackson Counties
Piedmont Judicial Circuit- Superior Court
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Superior Co
HIGH IMPORTANCE! WANT A RULING? SERVE THE JUDGE
With the conversion to e-filing in most civil matters, it is important to remember that unless the judge is served a copy of a motion, proposed order, response, request, notice, etc., BY THE ATTORNEY OR UNREPRESENTED PARTY, no ruling will be forthcoming.
Uniform Superior Court Rule 6 remains unchanged in its requirement in circuits such as the Piedmont Judicial Circuit with individual judge assignment, that the attorney provide a copy of motions and associated materials for the judge:
Rule 6. MOTIONS IN CIVIL ACTIONS Rule 6.1. Filing In civil actions every motion made prior to trial, except those consented to by all parties, when filed shall include or be accompanied by citations of supporting authorities and, where allegations of unstipulated fact are relied upon, supporting affidavits, or citations to evidentiary materials of record. In circuits utilizing an individual assignment system, the clerk shall promptly upon filing furnish a copy provided by the attorney of such motions and related materials to the judge.
Furthermore, USCR 4.10 requires the attorney to notify the judge of dismissals. Imagine the dismay of the court when it belatedly discovers that a matter upon which the judge and staff attorney have been working has been dismissed unbeknownst to the court.
Documents filed in through PeachCourt are not automatically sent to the assigned judge. It is solely and entirely the responsibility of counsel to supply the court with motions, proposed order, responses, notices and other matters the attorney desires the court to consider.
It is the duty of the attorney to submit the motion, dismissal, or other matter to the judge by doing so at the time of e-filing by selecting Courtesy Copy and entering the email address of the staff attorney assigned to the judge AND by delivering only one hard copy of the motion AND PROPOSED ORDER.
ALL DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE COURT MUST BE COMPLETED, SIGNED, AND SENT IN BLUE INK.
It is apparent that many matters are simply being filed with the clerk and not transmitted to the assigned judge. If, therefore, you are awaiting a ruling in a matter and have not received one, you need to determine whether the assigned judge is even aware of the matter. In other words, absent compliance with the Uniform Superior Court Rules, you should not expect a ruling.​
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PROCEDURES TO PROMOTE JUDICIAL ECONOMY ON COURT HEARING DAYS
In an effort to promote Judicial economy, to efficiently utilize our limited court time, to accommodate citizens, witnesses, attorneys, parties and court personnel, attorneys will no longer be given excessive amounts of time on hearing days to attempt to work out their cases. The Court recognizes the benefits of a consent agreement, however, the practice of allowing attorneys to negotiate before calling the cases to be heard often resulted in lengthy delays before commencing the hearing. This has been especially true when one or more attorneys have multiple cases set for hearings on the same date.
The Court respectfully requests that the attorneys make genuine efforts to discuss cases PRIOR TO coming to court in an effort to limit issues or reach a consent agreement. Otherwise, the parties need to be prepared to proceed to a hearing.
Time limits set on the calendar are to be adhered to by counsel. The Court reserves the right to terminate or suspend the evidentiary portion of a hearing if the allotted time has expired. The Court also reserves the right to limit the number of contested hearings any one attorney may calendar on a single day if this interferes with the orderly resolution of the daily hearing calendar, especially if there is evidence that counsel has not attempted to limit or resolve their cases in advance.
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Cases in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit (Barrow & Jackson Counties) are assigned to the judges according to the defendant's last name. If multiple defendants are involved, assignment is according to the name closest to the beginning of the alphabet.
Adoptions: Please e-mail a courtesy copy of the petition to your assigned Judge's staff attorney. Once your petition has been reviewed and the supporting documents provided, your adoption will be scheduled for a final hearing.
​Pro Se litigants: Once you have filed a case in with the clerk's office, you must notify your assigned Judge's assistant of your filing.
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Judges' Alphabet Assignments
Judge
Ben Green
C
J
L
N
P
V
Z
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Judge
Andy Crawford
A
G
O
S
W
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Judge
Sarah J. Griffie
D
E
F
I
M
R
U
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Chief Judge
Nicholas Primm
B
H
K
Q
T
X
Y
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Piedmont Circuit Specialty Courts
The Piedmont Judicial Circuit Specialty Courts consists of Barrow, and Jackson Counties and under the supervision of Superior Court, They are composed of four courts in Jackson County-- Felony Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, Family Treatment Court, and Wellness Court. The mission of the Piedmont Circuit Specialty Courts is to reduce recidivism while improving the quality of life for the offender, their family and the community at large by providing supervision, treatment and positive reinforcement through a structured cost-effective program. It is the goal of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit Specialty Courts to facilitate interagency collaboration by utilizing a multi-disciplinary team approach to ensure the safety of the community.
The goals of all courts are to:
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Reduce recidivism through structured cost-effective, evidence-based programming.
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Reduce alcohol and illicit substance use in the community.
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Encourage participants to comply with program requirements.
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Ensure that participants comply and engage in evidence-based treatment.
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Supervise restitution compensation to applicable victims and/or the community at large.
The Drug Court provides a non-traditional approach to working with criminal offenders by offering a judicially supervised intensive outpatient substance use disorder treatment program instead of incarceration.
The Wellness Court provides an alternative to incarceration by working with offenders and having them follow a closely monitored personalized treatment plan for their mental health that may also be accompanied by substance use disorder.
The Veterans Court offers a sentencing alternative for defendants who are veterans of the armed forces of the United States or the State's National Guard and assess a need for substance use disorder and/or mental health treatment.
The Family Treatment Court (FTC) of the Piedmont Circuit Specialty Courts receives referrals from Barrow and Jackson Counties. FTC provides an alternative for the disposition of dependency cases and for assisting Superior Courts with criminal cases referred to such divisions under Code Section 15-11-15. In addition to the PJCSC shared goals, the purpose of FTC is to improve permanency outcomes for families when dependency is based in part on substance use and/or mental health needs and increase accountability of respondents in dependency proceedings.
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