Dekalb County Magistrate Court

What Dekalb County Magistrate Court does

The DeKalb County Magistrate Court is a county-level judicial entity within the Georgia state court system, established in 1983 and headquartered in Decatur, Georgia. It holds exclusive statutory jurisdiction over civil claims up to $15,000, criminal warrant issuance and first-appearance/bond hearings, county ordinance violations, and specialized accountability court dockets in DeKalb County. The court operates through four primary divisions: Civil Matters (small claims, garnishments, landlord-tenant dispossessory, protective orders, abandoned motor vehicles, personal property foreclosures), Criminal Matters (warrants, first appearances, preliminary hearings, pretrial services, bad checks), Ordinance Matters (animal control, code enforcement, criminal code violations, nuisance abatement), and the Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (MMHC), the longest-running such program in Georgia, operating since 2001 and state-certified in 2017. The MMHC provides a minimum 12-month diversion track for non-violent misdemeanor offenders with verified mental health diagnoses, supported by an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, public defenders, sheriff's office representatives, and behavioral health providers.

Underlying technology consists of third-party SaaS tools rather than proprietary systems: Tyler Tech Odyssey eFileGA handles electronic case filing, Zoom powers virtual hearings, and YouTube livestreaming enables public access to courtroom proceedings across 10+ dedicated channels. A separate Fivepoints Bulk Filing integration supports document submission at scale. The DeKalb County Government Portal provides case lookup and docket viewing. The court is staffed with 22 core employees alongside a bench of 30+ magistrates and judges including Chief Magistrate Berryl A. Anderson.

As a government county entity, the court is publicly funded rather than commercially revenue-generating. Direct user charges are nominal statutory filing fees (e.g., $54 for small claims, $104 total for dispossessory, $20 for bad check citations, free for protective orders), and the court does not accept debit or credit cards. Customer segments span DeKalb County citizens with civil disputes, criminal defendants, ordinance violators, and mentally ill misdemeanor offenders diverted through MMHC. Approximately 800+ MMHC participants have been admitted with 700+ successful completions; civil case volume scales with county population and ordinance activity.

Name

Dekalb County Magistrate Court

Legal name

DeKalb County Magistrate Court

Website

https://dekalbcountymagistratecourt.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The DeKalb County Magistrate Court is a Georgia county court serving DeKalb County residents with civil disputes under $15,000, criminal warrants and bond hearings, ordinance violations, and a specialized misdemeanor mental health diversion program, supported by Tyler Tech e-filing and Zoom virtual hearings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Judicial Court Services

NAICS

Courts (92211)

akta.pro primary industry

Judicial Courts & Court Administration (BPAIAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty & Problem-Solving Courts (Drug, Mental Health, Veterans, Family) (BPAIAFAG)

Keywords

• Magistrate court services
• Civil dispute resolution
• Criminal court hearings
• Landlord tenant court
• Mental health court

Headquarters

HQ city

Decatur

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

DeKalb County Magistrate Court adjudicates civil disputes (claims up to $15,000), landlord-tenant dispossessory actions, small claims, garnishments, and protective orders through its Civil Matters Division. It processes criminal warrants, first appearance/bond hearings, and preliminary hearings through its Criminal Matters Division, handles county ordinance violations through the Ordinance Matters Division, and runs a 12-month Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (MMHC) diversion program for mentally ill misdemeanor offenders.

Product overview

Dekalb County Magistrate Court is a county court handling civil, criminal, ordinance, pretrial, and specialized mental health matters. The court operates as a unified platform with multiple divisions: Civil Matters Division (handling small claims up to $15,000, garnishments, landlord-tenant dispossessory, and protective orders), Criminal Matters Division (handling warrants, first appearances, preliminary hearings, and pretrial services), Ordinance Matters Division (handling code enforcement, animal control, and nuisance abatement), and the Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (a specialized 12-month accountability court program). Supporting services include e-filing through Tyler Tech, virtual hearings via Zoom, an online mediation program, and a case management portal. The court serves as the "people's court" providing accessible justice for DeKalb County residents.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Civil Matters Division Handles non-criminal legal disputes brought by plaintiffs against defendants for amounts up to $15,000, including small claims, garnishments, landlord-tenant dispossessory, abandoned motor vehicles, personal property foreclosures, protective orders, and petitions for review. Available to DeKalb County residents and businesses.
• Criminal Matters Division Handles criminal case proceedings brought by the government against defendants, including arrest warrants, search warrants, first appearance/bond hearings, preliminary hearings, pretrial services, bad check citations, and civilian warrant applications. Serves criminal defendants in DeKalb County.
• Ordinance Matters Division Adjudicates DeKalb County Code of Ordinance violations including animal control, code enforcement, criminal code violations, and nuisance abatement. Also manages failure to appear cases and bench warrant calendars. Available to DeKalb County ordinance violators.
• Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (MMHC) A pre-plea and post-plea accountability court program for individuals charged with misdemeanor or ordinance offenses who have a verifiable mental health diagnosis. Includes a minimum 12-month program of treatment, court appearances, and compliance requirements, leading to sentence vacation and charge dismissal upon completion. Available to non-violent misdemeanor offenders with mental illness in DeKalb County.
• Small Claims Court Adjudicates claims against persons or businesses where the amount in controversy is less than $15,000. Filing fee is $54 plus $35 per defendant for service. Includes a free mediation program for dispute resolution. Designed for self-represented litigants.
• Landlord-Tenant Dispossessory Eviction proceedings brought by landlords against tenants, including demand, warrant application, answer period, hearing, and potential writ of possession. Filing costs $104 plus $50 per defendant for Marshal service. Available to landlords in DeKalb County.
• Garnishment Services Legal procedure to collect judgments by reaching debtor's property held by a garnishee (bank or employer). Filing costs $54 plus $35 per garnishee for service. Types include continuing wage garnishment, bank/financial garnishment, support garnishment, and tax revenue garnishment.
• Pretrial Services Monitors defendants released from jail on felony and misdemeanor bonds, provides background information to courts, recommends release conditions, and supervises compliance. Also manages participants for MMHC and three Solicitor's Office Diversion Programs.
• Virtual Hearings Remote court proceedings conducted via Zoom video conferencing for criminal, civil, and ordinance matters, with public viewing available on YouTube. Phone dial-in available for those without internet access.
• E-Filing System Electronic filing platform through Tyler Tech (E-File GA) and Fivepoints Bulk Filing, allowing online submission of court documents for civil, criminal, and ordinance matters. Filing initial claims incurs a user fee through Odyssey eFileGA; filing answers electronically is free.
• Mediation Program Free online dispute resolution service allowing parties to reach settlement agreements in an informal, non-adversarial process. Uses Zoom platform with state-certified student mediators from John Marshall Law School. Available to parties in small claims disputes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 800 participants admitted to MMHC since inception with 700+ successful completions
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Atlanta Judicial Circuit Courts: The Atlanta Judicial Circuit (State Court of Fulton County) is a metro Atlanta incumbent court system handling a higher tier of matters and serves as a comparable benchmark for case management practices and digital infrastructure adoption across metro-area courts.
• DeKalb County Superior Court: DeKalb County Superior Court handles felonies and larger civil claims within the same county and represents the higher-tier incumbent court that the Magistrate Court feeds into and complements; useful for jurisdictional benchmarking.
• Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia: The Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia oversees the statewide court system, including the Council of Accountability Court Judges that certifies DeKalb's MMHC; it is the broader governing incumbent that sets policy and funding frameworks relevant to the subject.

Direct peers

• DeKalb County State Court: DeKalb County State Court sits in the same county as the subject and is a closely adjacent jurisdiction handling larger civil and misdemeanor criminal matters; it is co-located with and operationally complementary to the Magistrate Court, making it a structural peer.
• Gwinnett County Magistrate Court: Gwinnett County Magistrate Court serves another large metro Atlanta county and operates the same statutory magistrate court model (civil, criminal, bad check, and ordinance matters) under Georgia's unified magistrate court framework.
• Cobb County Magistrate Court: Cobb County Magistrate Court is a same-tier county magistrate court in metro Atlanta with overlapping jurisdictional scope over small claims, garnishments, dispossessories, and criminal first appearances under Georgia law.
• Fulton County Magistrate Court: Fulton County Magistrate Court in Atlanta, Georgia is the most direct peer — a same-jurisdiction-level magistrate court in an adjacent metropolitan county with similar civil, criminal, and ordinance responsibilities, including small claims under Georgia's $15,000 magistrate cap.

Regional players

• Chatham County Magistrate Court: Chatham County Magistrate Court in Savannah operates the same Georgia magistrate court model but in a different region (coastal Georgia), making it a relevant regional peer for benchmarking operating practices.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC678qoAbnDfIW9ql9ehppkQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dekalb-county-magistrate-court

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles34 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dekalb County Magistrate Court