Athens, Georgia Legal Overview Athens as the county seat of Clarke County, Georgia and Athens-Clarke County functions as a unified government. The Athens-Clarke County Superior Court serves as the main trial court with general jurisdiction. The superior court has exclusive jurisdiction on felony prosecutions, divorce filings and other family law cases. Large civil cases are handled by the superior court, but it shares jurisdiction on some cases with the Athens-Clarke County State Court. Athens is also served by limited jurisdiction magistrate, municipal, probate and juvenile courts.
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1. The Athens-Clarke County Magistrate Court has jurisdiction over civil cases below $15,000, along with foreclosures, evictions and other landlord-tenant disputes. It also handles minor criminal matters. The magistrate court also has the authority to hold preliminary hearings, arraignments and set bail. The Municipal Court of Athens-Clarke receives all the county ordinance violations, traffic violations and misdemeanors such as petty theft. Both courts may also issue arrest and search warrants. Cases that involve minors are handled by the Athens-Clarke County Juvenile Court.
Trending Athens, Georgia Legal Topics: The Athens-Clarke County Superior Court handles appeals against magistrate, municipal and probate court verdicts. Appeals against superior and juvenile court verdicts must be filed with the Court of Appeals of Georgia in Atlanta. This is an intermediate appellate court whose rulings can be reviewed and vacated by the Georgia Supreme Court, which is the state’s highest court. The federal court for Athens-Clarke County is the Athens Division of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. |