Overview of the Superior Court of Fulton County
The Superior Court of Fulton County is a trial court of general jurisdiction handling both civil and criminal law actions. The twenty judges of the Superior Court preside over cases involving misdemeanors, contract disputes, and various other actions. In addition, the Superior Court has exclusive equity jurisdiction over all cases of divorce, title to land, and felonies involving jury trials.
The Superior Court of Fulton County is in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, Fifth Judicial Administrative District.
Mission Statement
The Superior Court of Fulton County seeks to provide a forum in which legal disputes between citizens can be resolved in a fair and efficient process with attention to equal access, impartiality, efficiency, and safety. This mission is accomplished by practicing the key service objectives listed below:
- To provide access to justice to all citizens:
The Superior Court of Fulton County seeks to eliminate all potential barriers to its services. To be successful, the Court must conduct its business openly, ensure access to proceedings to all persons with legitimate business before the Court, and make its facilities safe, accessible and convenient to use.
- To ensure expeditious and timely proceedings:
The Superior Court has implemented processes to measure caseload processing timeframes and continue to make efforts to identify and remove delays.
- To promote equality, fairness and integrity for all persons conducting business in our court:
The Superior Court is committed to adhering to all laws, procedural rules, ethics and decorum when acting in its judicial and administrative capacities. All Court decisions and actions must be based on individual attention given to cases without regard to factors such as gender, race, religion and socioeconomic background.
- To have independence and accountability as a separate branch of government:
The judiciary is committed to maintaining its distinctiveness as a separate branch of government. Courts must both control their proper functions and demonstrate respect for their coequal partners in government. Judicial independence protects individuals from the arbitrary use of government power and ensures the rule of law.
- To restore public trust and confidence:
This goal requires the court to meet the four objectives described above.