FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County's chief magistrate court judge is sounding the alarm over shrinking budgets.
Judge Cassandra Kirk is asking the County Board of Commissioners for more money to replace some of the staff they recently lost.
"At this point, our magistrate court is in crisis," Kirk said.
Kirk said COVID funding expired in August. So, she lost 10 employees.
"Those 10 staff members had to leave because the funding left on Aug. 27, 2024. And since that time, we have been limping along."
Kirk said research shows she really needs 45 to 80 more people on her team.
"We are asking for six positions," Kirk said. "These are mission-critical. They are a senior staff attorney, four judicial assistants, and one administrative assistant."
She said the current budget is $4.6 million, with an expected raise to $5.1 million. However, that's not enough. She's asking for another $1.4 million.
"I think we are being incredibly reasonable," Kirk said.
Kirk said working with a skeleton staff has already been impacting Fulton County residents. The magistrate court handles cases like small claims, landlord/tenant disputes, and warrants. She said if the budget isn't increased, they'll be forced to reduce the number of cases they can hear. That means running six courtrooms could go down to three, and landlord/tenant calendars won't get answers in 30 days, for example.
"This is going to cause all case types in magistrate court to back up," Kirk said.
She has this to say to concerned residents.
"You should be worried," Kirk said.
A spokesperson for Fulton County shared a statement that said the Board of Commissioners will receive the 2025 proposed budget on Wednesday. The statement also said in part:
I would not recommend that the Commissioners conduct budget negotiations for one department in the media, when they will be working over the next two months to finalize the budget before adopting the final in January."
"We are doing the best we can with the resources we've had," Kirk said. "Those resources have not been sustainable."
Kirk said a lower budget would be a disservice to Fulton County residents.
"These are taxpayers' moneys," Kirk said. "I want us to be efficient, but I want us also to have an opportunity for parties to be heard when they come into court. We don't want to have to be churning out people."
Kirk plans to present her case to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners at their meeting on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
"We have asked, and we will continue to ask, that our board of commissioners fully fund the positions that this court needs in order for us to effectively serve magistrate court," Kirk said.