By L. Cramer
On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, Cobb County’s Chief Judge A. Gregory Poole of the Cobb Judicial Circuit declared a Notice of Judicial Emergency due to “significant disruptions” in Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor’s office. The notice claims that the disruptions are because of the implementation of a new case management system (CMS) that began in June 2024.
According to a source within a law office that deals with the Cobb County Superior Court regularly, the disruptions in the Superior Court Clerk’s office started long before the integration of a new CMS. Lawyers and clients have seen a more than 60-day delay on court filings out of Cobb County since, at least, December of 2023, when Cobb County Judge Robert D. Leonard II posted the filing backlog on Facebook urging lawyers to file paperwork directly with his office.
Filings have been so behind in Cobb County that lawyers have to use alternative means of sharing paperwork through a pay-program called Peach Court, in which legal representation has to purchase filings uploaded to the system by other lawyers involved in the case. Keep in mind, not all defendants are Cobb county residents; which means the usage of the online tools through the Superior Court Clerk’s office are absolutely crucial.
Additionally, lawyers and paralegals have found that it’s easier to go to the Cobb County Clerk’s office to retrieve important paperwork but are often waiting more than an hour while dealing with rude, discourteous employees. But, they lament, that waiting an hour is a lot better for their clients than waiting 60 days.
Connie Taylor is already embroiled in scandal around $425,000 in passport fees collected as her personal income from 2020-2022, in which she allegedly fired an accounting manager whose only crime was asking how Ms. Taylor would like to distribute the fees.
We would like to note, that in the state of Georgia it is legal to collect passport fees as personal income. What is suspect is Ms. Taylor’s over reaction to the open records request by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2022, which allegedly drove her to tell the accounting manager to delete all the files related to passport fee collection off a government server, leading to a GBI investigation at the request of a Cobb Superior Court Judge the results of which have now been turned over to the state’s Attorney General for review.
In the Notice of Judicial Emergency filing, there are a number of problems listed like issues viewing documents, notification failures, delayed filings and a disruption to court functions. So, basically every job that the Superior Court Clerk’s office has isn’t being done and is resulting in the public being inconvenienced and, possibly, having warrants out for their arrest because they did not receive a notice to appear prior to their court date.
Connie Taylor is up for reelection this year, because, if you did not know it, the Superior Court Clerk is a constitutional position which is chosen by the people. That means you, Cobb County, can choose who sits in this office.
This year, Connie Taylor is being challenged by Deborah Dance who has spent 25 years in the Cobb County Judicial system which includes her time as your Cobb County Attorney.
We reached out to Judge Leonard’s office for a quote, but he is currently out of the country.
We also reached out to Connie Taylor’s office for a quote but have not received a response.
