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Courthouse & Public Records Search
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Many places hold public records that may be needed in a background investigation. In Georgia
there are four courts: Superior Court, State Court, Magistrate Court, and Probate Court. As a
general rule, the Superior Court and the State Court are divided into two sections: civil and
criminal. The criminal may also be divided into misdemeanor and felony. The Magistrate and
Probate Courts generally maintain their criminal and civil records in the same place.
Whichever court you consider, they are different in every county. There is not a single location
where
you can go, for example, to discover every civil lawsuit that an individual has filed with
the Superior Court. It is necessary to visit every county's Superior Court. This also holds true
with the State, Magistrate, and Probate Courts.
It is possible, however, to access records from the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC)
which is maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to determine felonies which
have been prosecuted in Georgia which resulted in an adjudication of guilt. The Georgia
Department of Corrections can also be queried to determine incarceration in Georgia at the
state level.
Another court to be considered in any background is the United States District Court. Atlanta
houses the US District Court of Northern Georgia. This particular court (unlike the other courts)
provides online access to its records. As with all courts, however, these records may only go
back 10 - 20 years, depending on the jurisdiction. In order to obtain a complete and
comprehensive search, ledgers and microfiche must be hand searched at the appropriate
facility.
Listed below are links to free
public records sites provided by the
courts and other agencies. As
we learn about more, we will add
them.
Cobb County Courts - Case Lookup
DeKalb County Courts - Case Lookup
Gwinnett County Courts - Case Lookup
Georgia Dept of Corrections - Offender Lookup
Public Records Center - Free resource. |
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