COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Some Cobb County community members are calling for their Superior Court Clerk to resign, claiming there is a nearly three-month backlog on their online court filings.
If you head on over to the Cobb County Clerk of Superior Court's website to search for court records, you're greeted by a large, black font stating the index data available is through Sept. 21. That means Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor's office has nearly three months of court records that have been submitted but are not available online.
As the clock ticks, family law attorney and divorce lawyer Randy Kessler says time is of the essence for attorneys and the clients they represent.
“Any glitches in technology or delays in the system are now exacerbated when people are waiting for their results," he explained. "The anxiety just builds. When people don't know what's happening, sometimes even a bad ruling - a negative ruling - it's better to know that than to not know what is going to happen. People want finality. They want closure.”
Last week, Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert Leonard wrote on Facebook that this delay is forcing him to "hold default judgments and bench warrants, attorneys are not getting notices, and addresses aren’t getting changed."
He went on to write, "I can’t stress this enough: if you have something important that needs attention, or even a responsive pleading with a hearing coming up, please send my office a courtesy copy."
Kessler, who says Cobb County has a reputation for having some of the best judges across the state, explains the backlog could be caused by many factors.
“It might be the funding. It might be that there's just not somebody - a lot of people sit at the desk and to process their steps. When a case comes in electronically, you've got to check boxes, you've got to assign it to a judge, you may have to schedule a court date," he said. "You may have to look at which dates the lawyers are not available because we have what we call leaves of absence, so there's a lot of coordination. Also, population growth. We're getting more people, which means more lawsuits. So it may just be the system's overwhelmed.”
Marietta City Councilwoman Cheryl Richardson, also wrote on Facebook, stating that as an attorney, this affects her.
She writes, "As an elected official, I usually don’t comment on certain things, but as a lawyer affected by the current situation - all I can say is that she needs to quit. She’s elected and can’t be fired, but she needs to quit. She needs to go so someone can come in and fix the backlog and other issues now before they get worse. The court’s inefficiency and incompetence hurts lawyers and their clients. This court has been better and should be better than it is now."
Connie Taylor was sworn in as Cobb’s Superior Court Clerk back in 2020, defeating Republican incumbent Rebecca Keaton. Taylor is the first black officeholder in that position.
Kessler, who is the former chair of the American Bar Family Law Section, says filing online court records used to be a more streamlined, sometimes quick process.
“It used to be I would go down to the courthouse, wait in line, and the clerk would stamp it that it's filed - whether it's the final agreement or the initial filing or the request for an emergency hearing," he explained. "It was almost instantaneous. So, in some ways, that was better than electronic filing."
11Alive has reached out to Taylor for comment and has not heard back yet.