COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Issues in the Cobb County Superior Court are causing frustration for thousands of people. The court clerk led a transition to a new e-filing system, but it has taken months to fully convert due to technical issues. The problems have left domestic violence survivors searching for help.
11Alive saw several people waiting outside the superior court on Thursday, waiting for answers and for help to arrive. Fernando Zapien Ramirez works with LiveSafe Resources, which serves all of Cobb County's 900-plus temporary protective orders, otherwise known as restraining orders.
"It can be frustrating for clients to have to go before court and explain the abuse they've had to deal with, so it's another thing entirely to feel like a system may be failing them because it's not enforceable," Ramirez said. "When things are not timely filed, it presents an issue for our specific cases. Our specific cases are under a strict timeline, and time is of the essence."
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That system was slowed by a software conversion that's taken longer than expected to file and process electronic records. Ramirez said that's making it harder to enforce any orders. Under the law, typical temporary restraining orders must be heard and served within 30 days and special parameters have to be met.
"In one case, an abuser violated the order, sent her texts, videos, contacting her," Ramirez said. "Law enforcement couldn't enforce it because they didn't have proof of service. There’s nothing showing the order has been properly served. That presents an issue for the court to hear it further and presents an issue in terms of actual enforcement of the order.”
In another case, Ramirez said a repeat client filed an order against a person, wasn't able to get the order, refiled the petition, and then went back to court and verified that the order had actually been served. It just wasn't filed.
The issues in Cobb County Superior Court have had ramifications for both civil and criminal cases. In many instances, defendants don't know when to show up in court, and attorneys have to petition limited staff to physically search for records.
"There's a concern on our end," Ramirez said. "Right now, our office is seeing what we can do to make sure our clients remain safe and protected. There's only so much we can do on our end."
In general, this all follows a months-long backlog of online court filings late last year, which led to backlash against Connie Taylor, the superior court clerk. 11Alive has not yet heard back from her office for comment. In the meantime, a judge declared a judicial emergency, allowing for some relief in the form of deadline extensions to court proceedings.
A spokesperson for the Georgia Attorney General's Office said that there is an open and ongoing investigation concerning the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk.
"The GBI has provided our office with its findings. As with any case, even after we receive the GBI’s file, we continue with a thorough analysis of those findings and follow up on any new information gathered in the process," the spokesperson said.
The Cobb County Superior Court Chief Judge said there were no additional updates on progress of the system conversion and the impacts as of Thursday evening. He put this judicial emergency in place for 30 days. He said he'd give a week's notice to either move up that timeframe if these issues are sorted out in time, or extend the deadline.