Towns County Civil Court Records

Civil court records in Towns County are maintained by the Superior Court Clerk in Hiawassee, Georgia. The clerk's office handles filings for contract disputes, property claims, personal injury suits, and all other civil matters heard in this small north Georgia mountain county. You can search Towns County civil court records through the statewide GSCCCA portal or by reaching out to the clerk's office in Hiawassee directly. This page walks you through what records are available, how to access them online and in person, and what to expect from the civil court process in Towns County.

Towns County Superior Court Clerk

The Towns County Superior Court Clerk in Hiawassee is the official office for civil court records in this county. Towns is one of the smallest counties in Georgia by both area and population, but the Superior Court Clerk still handles the full range of civil filings that fall under Superior Court jurisdiction. The clerk accepts new civil complaints, maintains the official docket, issues process on filed suits, and stores all civil case documents. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-6-94, the clerk must index all civil filings, keep records in proper order, and make them available to the public during normal business hours.

The courthouse is located in Hiawassee, the county seat of Towns County. Office hours are generally Monday through Friday. Call ahead to confirm current hours before making the drive up into the mountains, since small county offices sometimes have limited staffing. Staff can help you find a case number, pull a physical file, or request copies. Certified copies carry a higher fee than plain copies, and those fees are set by state law.

Towns County is part of the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, which also serves several other north Georgia counties. Because the circuit covers multiple counties, Superior Court judges travel between them on a set schedule. Hearing dates in Towns County depend on the circuit court calendar. If you need to find a specific hearing date, the clerk's office in Hiawassee can tell you when the next circuit term is scheduled.

Towns County Superior Court does not have a standalone online case search portal. For online searches of recorded civil instruments, use the GSCCCA system described in the next section.

Searching Towns Civil Records Online

The Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority provides the main online search tool for civil court records across all 159 Georgia counties. The GSCCCA search portal at gsccca.org indexes recorded documents from every Georgia county, including Towns. You can search by name, book and page, or date range. The system covers real property records, civil judgment liens, security deeds, UCC filings, and other instruments recorded with the Towns County clerk. It does not display full active case dockets, but it shows final judgments once they are recorded.

The screenshot below shows the GSCCCA search portal, which is the main online access point for Towns County civil court records.

Select Towns County from the county filter when using the GSCCCA search portal to narrow results to local civil records from Hiawassee.

Because Towns County is small, the volume of civil filings is lower than in larger Georgia counties. That said, the GSCCCA system still indexes all recorded instruments from the clerk's office in Hiawassee. For active civil case dockets and filings that have not produced a recorded judgment, contact the Superior Court Clerk directly. Staff can search the case management system by party name or case number and provide docket information over the phone or at the counter.

FANS Alerts and Certified Copies

The FANS fraud alert service at fans.gsccca.org is available to Towns County property owners. You can register your name with FANS and receive an email alert any time a document is recorded against your name in the county's official records. In a small county like Towns, where real estate and vacation property transactions are common, monitoring recordings can help you catch unauthorized filings quickly. The service is free and covers all document types recorded by the Superior Court Clerk in Hiawassee.

For certified copies of civil court records from Towns County, you can visit the clerk's office in Hiawassee in person and request copies at the counter. The eCertification portal at ecert.gsccca.org also lets you order certified copies of certain recorded instruments online without traveling to Hiawassee. This option is especially convenient given the county's mountain location, which can make in-person visits less practical for people who live outside the area.

Georgia Open Records Law and Access Rights

Civil court records in Towns County are public records under Georgia's Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70. This law gives any person the right to request and inspect public records held by the clerk's office in Hiawassee. The clerk must respond within three business days, either handing over the records or explaining why they cannot be released. Records sealed by a judge and files involving minors may be withheld under specific statutory exceptions and are not part of the public civil court record.

Civil cases in Towns County Superior Court include contract disputes, property line and easement conflicts, personal injury suits, and civil enforcement of judgments. The county's location in the north Georgia mountains means that property boundary disputes and real estate matters involving vacation or recreational land come up fairly often in the civil court docket. Each case generates a set of documents indexed by party name and case number at the clerk's office in Hiawassee.

Types of Civil Records Available in Towns County

The Towns County Superior Court Clerk stores several categories of civil court records that are open to public inspection. Knowing what types of documents exist helps you figure out what to ask for when you contact the clerk's office in Hiawassee or search the GSCCCA system online.

Civil case filings include the original complaint, the summons, and the defendant's answer. As a case moves through the court, additional documents are added to the file. Motions, court orders, and hearing notices all become part of the case record. Once a judge signs a final order or judgment, that document is added to the file and may also be recorded separately to create a judgment lien.

Judgment liens are one of the most searched civil record types. A creditor who wins a civil judgment in Towns County can record that judgment with the Superior Court Clerk. The recorded judgment creates a lien against real property in the county and shows up in the GSCCCA database under the debtor's name. Title companies, lenders, and attorneys routinely search judgment records before real estate closings.

Property-related civil records are especially common in Towns County given the volume of vacation and recreational real property in the area. Quiet title actions, easement disputes, and deed disputes all produce civil court records in Hiawassee. These cases often include surveys, historical deeds, and recorded plats as exhibits in the court file.

UCC filings recorded with the Towns County Clerk also appear in the GSCCCA system. These filings are relevant when a secured creditor has a lien on business personal property. If you are researching a business or commercial transaction involving a Towns County party, a UCC search through GSCCCA is part of a complete civil records review.

Additional Access Options for Towns County Records

The GSCCCA eCertification portal at ecert.gsccca.org is worth bookmarking if you need certified copies of recorded instruments from Towns County on a regular basis. The portal allows you to request and pay for certified copies without visiting Hiawassee, which is particularly helpful given the county's remote location in the northeast Georgia mountains.

For civil matters that involve federal claims or parties in multiple states, the Northern District of Georgia federal court covers Towns County. Federal civil records are separate from the Superior Court docket and are searchable through PACER at pacer.gov. A PACER account is needed to access federal case filings. Most civil disputes in Towns County, however, are handled entirely in state Superior Court and do not involve federal court.

Georgia Legal Services Program provides civil legal help to income-qualifying individuals in rural Georgia counties, including Towns County. If you need assistance with a civil court matter in Hiawassee and cannot afford a private attorney, Georgia Legal Services may be able to help. The Georgia State Bar's lawyer referral service at gabar.org can also connect you with a licensed Georgia attorney who handles civil matters in this circuit.

Nearby Counties

Civil cases must be filed in the county where the defendant lives or where the dispute arose. Check these neighboring county records if you are unsure which court has jurisdiction.