#JusticeNeedsJurors

Chief Justice Harold Melton reminds all Georgians of their duty to serve as jurors in this new PSA to underscore the importance of jury trials in the American system of justice.

Forsyth Courts' Coronavirus Updates


January 18, 2022

Bell-Forsyth Administrative Order 22-06
IN RE: TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF JURY TRIALS


January 13, 2022

Calendar Change State Court: Administrative Order 22-05
IN RE: CHANGES TO STATE COURT CALENDAR AFFECTED BY SURGE OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN FORSYTH COUNTY


January 12, 2022

Bell-Forsyth State Court: Administrative Order 22-04 Amending AO 22-01
IN RE: CHANGES TO STATE COURT CALENDAR AFFECTED BY SURGE OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN FORSYTH COUNTY


January 4, 2022

Calendar Change State Court: Administrative Order 22-01
IN RE: CHANGES TO STATE COURT CALENDAR AFFECTED BY SURGE OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN FORSYTH COUNTY


August 6, 2021

Bell-Forsyth Policy Regarding Masks in The Forsyth County Courthouses


July 1, 2021

Bell-Forsyth Administrative Order 21-9
RECISSION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER 21-07


June 22, 2021

GA Supreme Court Omnibus COVID-19 Extension Order
IN RE: EXTENDING AND CLARIFYING TEMPORARY AMENDMENTS TO VIDEO CONFERENCING RULES FOR THE SUPERIOR, JUVENILE, MAGISTRATE, MUNICIPAL, AND PROBATE COURTS.


June 7, 2021

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
FIFTEENTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY

NOTICE OF EXPECTED TERMINATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ON JUNE 30, 2021


May 14, 2021

Bell-Forsyth Administrative Order 21-7 (Replacing Administrative Order 20-10)
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER REGARDING WEARING OF FACE MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE FORSYTH COUNTY COURTHOUSE


May 10, 2021

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency // Deadlines To Be Reinstate For Indicting Those In Jail
FOURTEENTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


April 9, 2021

Bell-Forsyth PANDEMIC JURY TRIAL PLAN FOR BELL-FORSYTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT


April 8, 2021

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency // Judicial Emergency Extended, But More Restrictions Due To Be Lifted
THIRTEENTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


March 9, 2021

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency // Jury Trials To Resume In Georgia, Again
TWELFTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


February 7, 2021

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
ELEVENTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


January 8, 2021

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
TENTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


January 6, 2021

Calendar Change State Court: Judges McClelland & Abernathy-Maddox
All hearings before Judge McClelland and Judge Abernathy-Maddox scheduled in State Court for Thursday, January 7, 2021 are cancelled due to a COVID exposure in the courthouse. If you are scheduled to appear in State on any of these calendars, you will receive a notice from the Court for your new court date. If you have a traffic citation that is payable, you may pay your fine online. Please contact the Clerk’s Office or the Solicitor’s Office for further information on whether your citation is payable and how to pay.


January 5, 2021

Bell-Forsyth Order Declaring Limited Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC


December 23

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice To Suspend Jury Trials // Accompanying Press Release Re: Amended Ninth Order
ORDER MODIFYING NINTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


December 9

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency // Accompanying Press Release Re: Ninth Order
NINTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


November 9

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
EIGHTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


October 21

Bell-Forsyth Order Declaring Limited Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC


October 10

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
SEVENTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


October 9

Bell-Forsyth Order Declaring Limited Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC


September 10

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
SIXTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


August 13

Bell-Forsyth Order of Closure for August 14, 2020
PURSUANT TO JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60


August 11

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
FIFTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


July 27

Bell-Forsyth Employees Test Positive

The Forsyth County Courthouse and the Forsyth County Juvenile Court have had employees who have tested positive for coronavirus. The Court immediately contacted the Department of Public Health, per the Georgia Supreme Court Fourth Order Extending Declaration of Statewide Judicial Emergency, so that contact tracing efforts could begin as soon as possible to determine potential contacts. In addition, the Court has consulted with Forsyth County Personnel Services and the Forsyth County Office of Risk Management to ensure that the Court has adhered to all county requirements.

The Chief Judge of Superior Court has issued orders mandating daily health screenings, temperature checks, and face coverings for everyone entering the Forsyth County Courts. Social distancing efforts have been implemented and plexiglass dividers have been installed in each courtroom to provide additional safety for employees and other court participants. The number of individuals permitted in the courtrooms for essential hearings has been reduced and technology has been adopted to allow for virtual hearings for all parties in court proceedings. Courtrooms are extensively cleaned and disinfected after each court calendar.


July 20

Bell-Forsyth Administrative Order 20-10 (Amending Administrative Order 20-7)
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER REGARDING WEARING OF FACE MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE FORSYTH COUNTY COURTHOUSE


July 10

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
FOURTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


June 12

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
THIRD ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


June 11

Bell-Forsyth Judge Bagley's (Division 1) Civil & Criminal Cases Protocol
COVID-19 PROTOCOL FOR CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES SCHEDULED IN DIVISION 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOR THE TIME PERIOD FROM 6/12/20 THROUGH 7/12/20


June 10

Bell-Forsyth Juvenile Court Memorandum
RE: RESUMPTION OF IN-COURT HEARINGS UPON EXPIRATION OF JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


May 28

Bell-Forsyth UPDATED 7/20/20 Administrative Order 20-7
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER REGARDING WEARING OF FACE MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE FORSYTH COUNTY COURTHOUSE


May 21

Bell-Forsyth FORSYTH COUNTY STATE COURT RESUMING IN-PERSON HEARINGS

Pursuant to the Chief Justice’s Order Declaring a Statewide Judicial Emergency dated March 14, 2020, all non-essential Forsyth County State Court cases were continued. These cases included Traffic and Misdemeanor offenses. On May 11, 2020, the Chief Justice entered a Second Order Extending Declaration of Statewide Judicial Emergency which provides for some in-person judicial proceedings, but only if they are conducted in compliance with public health guidelines and with all applicable law and court rules. The Order also encourages the courts to continue to the use and increase the use of technology to conduct remote judicial proceedings. During the judicial emergency, the State Court of Forsyth County has been successful in conducting many types of hearings using videoconferencing technology such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. The State Court Judges will continue using this technology to reduce the number of people who will be required to physically come to the courthouse to resolve their case.

As the court begins to look at resuming in-person hearings, we are developing guidelines consistent with the Chief Justice’s Order that are designed to protect the health and safety of all those coming to the courthouse and that will allow the courts to begin working on its backlog of cases caused the pandemic. These guidelines will be published soon and will be available here and the Forsyth County Clerk’s web site at www.forsythclerk.com.

The first group of cases that will be heard as “in-person” hearings will begin on June 1st and will consist of reduced calendars (usually no more than 40 people per day per courtroom) of arraignments for serious misdemeanor offenses which require the person to attend court and traffic arraignments which may not require the person to attend court. If you have received a notice for a court appearance during these first two weeks of June, you may receive a new court date notice rescheduling your appearance for a specific date and time that is different from the notice you received when you were charged. If you have been charged with traffic citation, your citation may be payable. Even if your ticket was one that originally required you to appear in court, it may have been made “payable” by the prosecutor. To check the status of your citation or to pay your citation, please visit the Forsyth County Clerk’s website. If your ticket is not payable, contact the Solicitor General at 770-781-2145.


May 15

Bell-Forsyth Fifth Amended Order Extending Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

Bell-Forsyth Judge Bagley's (Division 1) Civil & Criminal Cases Protocol
COVID-19 PROTOCOL FOR CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES SCHEDULED IN DIVISION 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOR THE TIME PERIOD FROM 5/14/20 THROUGH 6/12/20

Bell-Forsyth Juvenile Court Standing Order
SECOND STANDING ORDER REGARDING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES PURSUANT TO SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA ORDERED STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


May 11

Bell-Forsyth UPDATED 5/15/20: Judge Bagley's (Division 1) Civil & Criminal Cases Protocol
COVID-19 PROTOCOL FOR CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES SCHEDULED IN DIVISION 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOR THE TIME PERIOD FROM 5/14/20 THROUGH 6/12/20

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
SECOND ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


April 24

Bell-Forsyth Fourth Amended Order Extending Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC


April 15

Bell-Forsyth Academic Common Market Applications


April 14

Bell-Forsyth Access To Justice In Response To Covid-19


April 9

Bell-Forsyth Statement from Juvenile Court Regarding Judicial Emergency

Calendar Change Superior Court: Judge Dickinson
Judge Dickinson’s Civil Bench Trial Calendar Call for May 1, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. has been cancelled.

Calendar Change State Court: Judges McClelland & Abernathy-Maddox
All non-essential criminal hearings which do not involve a person in custody as hereby cancelled, unless otherwise specifically ordered by the judge presiding over the case, through and including May 13, 2020, the date on which the current applicable judicial emergency order expires. You will receive a reset notice at a later date.


April 7

Bell-Forsyth Third Amended Order Extending Limited Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC


April 6

Bell-Forsyth Juvenile Court Operating Order
EXTENSION OF ORDER REGARDING SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA ORDERED STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY

Bell-Forsyth Juvenile Court Operating Order
EXTENSION OF INTERIM ORDER REGARDING COURT-ORDERED PARENTING TIME / VISITATION IN ALL DEPENDENCY CASES

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Extends Statewide Judicial Emergency
ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


April 3

Calendar Change State Court: Traffic Arraignments and Criminal Arraignments will be postponed
The Forsyth County State Court has postponed Criminal Arraignments scheduled for April 14, 2020 and Traffic Arraignments scheduled for April 16, 2020. Court notices will be mailed to individual listing their new court date.

  • Criminal Arraignments on April 14 will be rescheduled to June 8
  • Traffic Arraignments on April 16 will be rescheduled for either June 4 and June 12
It is your responsibility to notify the Clerk of Court of any change in your address since your arrest date or citation date. If you do not receive a notice telling you which day to appear in court, please contact the Forsyth County Clerk of Courts at 770-205-4606.


March 31

GA Supreme Court Order temporarily clarifying/amending Juvenile Court video conference rules
IN RE: JUVENILE COURT RULES


March 27

GA Supreme Court Order Regarding Real Estate Transactions by Video Conference
IN RE: GEORGIA RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND LAWYER PARTICIPATION IN CLOSINGS OF REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

GA Supreme Court Order Temporarily Clarifying/Waiving Superior Court Rules Related to Video
IN RE: SUPERIOR COURT RULES


March 26

Bell-Forsyth State Court Administrative Order 20-06
IN RE: CHANGES TO STATE COURT CALENDAR AFFECTED BY DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY BY SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA ON MARCH 14, 2020


March 24

Bell-Forsyth Second Amended Order Declaring Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC


March 20

Bell-Forsyth State Court Administrative Order 20-05
IN RE: CHANGES TO STATE COURT BOND SCHEDULE AFFECTED BY DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ON MARCH 14, 2020


March 16

Bell-Forsyth Amended Order Declaring Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: COURTHOUSE CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

Bell-Forsyth State Court Administrative Order 20-04
IN RE: CHANGES TO STATE COURT CALENDAR AFFECTED BY DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY BY SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA ON MARCH 14, 2020

Bell-Forsyth Juvenile Court Operating Order
REGARDING SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA ORDERED STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY

Bell-Forsyth Juvenile Court Operating Order
INTERIM ORDER REGARDING COURT-ORDERED PARENTING TIME / VISITATION IN ALL DEPENDENCY CASES


March 14

GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Announces Statewide Judicial Emergency
AMENDED ORDER DECLARING STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY


March 13

Bell-Forsyth Order Declaring Limited Judicial Emergency
IN RE: JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ACT OF 2004 O.C.G.A. § 38-3-60: LIMITATION OF JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC