Atlanta Civil Court Records

Civil court records for Atlanta are held primarily by the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts at 136 Pryor Street SW in downtown Atlanta. Because Atlanta sits in both Fulton County and DeKalb County, a case filed in Atlanta may be in either county's system depending on where the parties or property are located. This guide covers where to search, how to access records online, and what courts serve Atlanta residents and businesses filing civil cases in Georgia.

Which County Handles Atlanta Civil Records

Atlanta spans two counties. The larger part of the city is in Fulton County, which is where the vast majority of civil court records for Atlanta are filed. A smaller portion of the city extends into DeKalb County, and civil cases arising in that area fall under DeKalb County Superior Court jurisdiction. If you are not sure which county applies, check the zip code or street address of the parties or the property involved.

For most Atlanta civil cases, Fulton County is the right place to start. The Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts, currently led by Ché Alexander, maintains all civil filings for the Superior Court. This includes major contract disputes, tort claims, property disputes, civil rights actions, domestic relations matters, and cases seeking more than $15,000 in damages. The Magistrate Court handles smaller civil claims up to $15,000 and is also located through the Fulton County Clerk's office.

Note: If a civil case involves parties or property on the DeKalb side of Atlanta, you will need to search DeKalb County civil court records separately through the DeKalb County court system.

Fulton County Courthouse and Clerk Contact

The main Fulton County Courthouse is located at 136 Pryor Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303. This is the primary location for civil court filings and record requests. The clerk's main phone line is (404) 613-5313. The office is open Monday through Friday during regular business hours. The clerk's website at fultonclerk.org provides access to online services, forms, and contact information for each division of the clerk's office.

Fulton County also operates two service centers outside of downtown Atlanta that handle Magistrate Court hearings. The North Service Center is at 7741 Roswell Road, Suite 253, Atlanta, GA 30350. The South Service Center is at 5600 Stonewall Tell Road, Room 219B, College Park, GA 30349. Both centers share the same main phone number as the downtown courthouse: (404) 613-5313. For civil record research, the downtown location at Pryor Street is the primary office.

The Fulton County Superior Court has 20 judges. It handles civil cases with no upper dollar limit. This court is where large commercial disputes, malpractice suits, product liability cases, and real property actions in Atlanta are typically filed. The State Court also handles some civil matters within a more limited jurisdiction.

Search Atlanta Civil Court Records Online

Fulton County participates in re:SearchGA, the statewide multi-county case search system operated by Tyler Technologies. This platform lets you search civil court records filed in Fulton County and 24 other Georgia counties from a single interface. You can search by party name, case number, or attorney name. Attorneys of record and e-filing pro se litigants can access full documents through the system at no charge. Others may have read-only access to case index data.

The Fulton County Clerk's own Records Search Center at fultonclerk.org/536/Records-Search-Center provides direct access to Fulton County civil records. The eServices portal at fultonclerk.org/144/eServices lets you request copies, check filing status, and access additional clerk services online.

For recorded civil judgments, liens, security deeds, and UCC filings tied to Atlanta properties, the GSCCCA search portal is the best resource. The Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority maintains real estate and lien records for all 159 Georgia counties, including Fulton. When a civil judgment in Atlanta is recorded as a lien against real property, it appears in the GSCCCA land records database. Standard accounts cost $14.95 per month, and premium accounts cost $29.95 per month.

Civil cases can also be filed electronically through the Odyssey eFileGA platform. Attorneys are required to e-file civil cases in Fulton County through this system. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-7.1, each new civil filing must include a case filing information form, which the clerk uses to index the civil court record. The e-file center page at fultonclerk.org/294/Civil-E-Filing has current instructions for attorneys and self-represented parties who want to file civil cases in Fulton County.

Atlanta Municipal Court

Atlanta also has its own Municipal Court, which handles city ordinance violations, traffic citations, and misdemeanor cases within the city limits. The Atlanta Municipal Court is not a civil court in the same sense as the Superior or Magistrate Courts, but it does handle matters that affect Atlanta residents directly. Its website is at court.atlantaga.gov.

The Municipal Court does not handle the types of civil disputes, tort claims, or contract actions that most people associate with civil court records. For those, Fulton County Superior Court or Magistrate Court is the right venue. The Municipal Court matters that do appear in civil court-adjacent records include traffic cases, code enforcement actions, and city ordinance matters that can affect civil liability in some circumstances.

The image below shows the Atlanta Municipal Court website, which is the starting point for looking up city court matters in Atlanta, Georgia.

Visit the Atlanta Municipal Court website to search traffic citations, check case status, and find contact information for the court that handles city ordinance matters in Atlanta.

While the Atlanta Municipal Court covers city-level matters, most civil court records for Atlanta residents are found through the Fulton County court system rather than the Municipal Court.

Georgia Law and Atlanta Civil Filings

Civil court records in Atlanta are governed by Georgia's court rules and the Open Records Act. Under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. §§ 50-18-70 through 50-18-74, all public court records must be made available for inspection within three business days of a request. Civil court records filed in Fulton County Superior Court are public records unless a judge has issued a specific order limiting access under Uniform Superior Court Rule 21.

Rule 21 requires that any order sealing civil court records in Georgia must be based on a finding that privacy harm clearly outweighs the public interest. This is a high standard. Most civil court records in Atlanta, including complaints, answers, motions, and judgments, remain public and can be inspected or copied at the clerk's office or through the online systems described above.

Copy fees apply for paper copies of civil case documents in Fulton County. Certified copies cost more than plain copies per page. For certified digital copies of recorded documents, the GSCCCA eCertification portal at ecert.gsccca.org lets you order tamper-proof certified copies without a trip to Pryor Street. The FANS service at fans.gsccca.org is free and lets Atlanta property owners sign up for alerts when documents are recorded against their real property in Fulton County.

Note: The Fulton County Clerk's good-thru date for current index updates was February 11, 2026, meaning records added after that date may have a short lag before appearing in online search systems.

Nearby Cities with Civil Court Records

Atlanta is surrounded by several cities with their own qualifying populations. Civil cases involving parties from these cities are typically filed in the county superior court serving that city. If a case spans Atlanta and a nearby city, Fulton County Superior Court often has jurisdiction based on where the defendant resides or where the claim arose.