RENT HELP

DeKalb County
Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition (TLAC)
Click here to learn more.

TEMPORARY PROTECTIVE ORDERS

You can apply for a Temporary Protective Order Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Log onto www.dksuperiorclerk.com/tpo/ for forms and step by step instructions. Contact Womens Resource Center at (404) 370-7670 or Tapestri at (404) 299-2185 for assistance.

CAUTION: The process requires the use of an email address. Your safety may be compromised if someone else has access to your email account. Please contact the Women's Resource Center or Tapestri if you have concerns BEFORE starting this process.

ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

The Online Dispute Resolution (“ODR”) program enables persons with small claims cases to settle their matters using their smartphone, tablet, or computer. The Court is partnering with Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School to provide this user-friendly program.
Click here to learn more about our new Online Dispute Resolution Program

Go To The Online Dispute Resolution Program

Welcome, I am Chief Magistrate Court Judge Berryl A. Anderson (view bio | outreach) and I want to thank you for visiting our website. The DeKalb Magistrate Court was created in 1983 and handles civil, criminal, and ordinance issues in DeKalb County, Georgia. DeKalb County Magistrate Court is a county court that is called the “people’s court.”

We hope you will find useful information on a variety of court-related matters on the DeKalb County Magistrate Court System website. I encourage you to browse our topics for more details on the types of cases under the Magistrate Court’s jurisdiction. For additional information, please visit our “FAQ” section. If you are visually impaired, the website has been tested with current screen readers and you can adjust the size of the text at the bottom of each page. For our diverse DeKalb County community, you can select what language you want the website to display in by selecting the country in the bottom right corner of the web page you are on but it will default to the language of your browser.

Important Numbers & Information

Magistrate Court has 4 Divisions in 3 Locations

Civil Matters
DeKalb County Courthouse
556 N. McDonough Street Room 230
Decatur, GA 30030
View Map
404-371-2261
8:30 am until 5:00pm
Monday through Friday
Except Holidays

Pretrial Services
556 N. McDonough Street Room 120
Decatur, GA 30030
View Map
404-371-3025
8:30 am until 5:00pm
Monday through Friday
Except Holidays

Criminal Matters
3630 Camp Circle
Decatur, Georgia 30032
View Map
404-294-2150
Seven (7) days a week
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m. to 12 midnight
Sat-Sun: 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.;
6 p.m. to 12 midnight
(For holiday hours, please contact the court)

Ordinance Matters
3630 Camp Circle Courtroom E
Decatur, GA 30032
View Map
470-542-9485
8:30am – 4:30pm Monday-Friday
Except Holidays

Magistrate Court Live Stream Channels

Magistrate court proceedings will be broadcast live on the court’s following YouTube channels:

Magistrate Criminal Courtroom A

Magistrate Criminal Courtroom B

Magistrate Courtroom 1200C

Magistrate Courtroom 1200D

Magistrate Ordinance Courtroom

Magistrate Ordinance Courtroom 2

Dispossessory Courtroom 1

Dispossessory Courtroom 2

Dispossessory Courtroom 3

Small Claims Courtroom 1

Small Claims Courtroom 2

Small Claims Courtroom 3

DeKalb Magistrate Court Divisions

Civil

Small Claims, Dispossessory Action, Abandoned Vehicles, Nuisance Abatement, Garnishments, Weddings and Marriages, Protective Orders

Criminal

Felony Warrants , Bad Checks, Child Abandonment Warrant, Misdemeanor Warrants, First Appearance Hearings, Preliminary Hearings

Ordinances

Criminal Code Violations (Criminal, Housing, Business), Code Enforcement, Animal Control, Court Procedure

Misdemeanor Mental Health Court

The Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (MMHC), formerly the Diversion Treatment Court, is the longest-running mental health court of its kind in Georgia. Established in 2001 as a pre-plea diversion program, the MMHC is currently a pre-plea and post-plea state-certified accountability court. In the MMHC program, defendants agree to comply with a case management plan that includes a treatment plan design to meet their individual needs. The treatment plan is developed by the court's social worker, reviewed and discussed with the team and approved by the judge.

Meet Our Judges

Magistrate Judge and Misdemeanor Mental Health Court Presiding Judge,
Rhathelia Stroud
Law School: Georgia State University College of Law
Became a Magistrate: December, 2008

Magistrate Judge, Matthew J. McCoyd
Law School: Emory Law School
Became a Magistrate: May, 2015

Magistrate Judge, Mary McCall Cash
Law School: Georgia State University College of Law
Became a Magistrate: December, 2012

Magistrate Judge, September Guy
Law School: Georgia State College of Law
Became a Magistrate: May, 2015

Magistrate Judge, Claire Jason
Law School: Southern University Law Center
Became a Magistrate: December, 2004

Magistrate Judge, Joshua G. Davis
Law School: Howard University School of Law School
Became a Magistrate: October, 2020

Magistrate Judge, Hollie Manheimer
Law School: Emory Law School
Became a Magistrate: May, 2015

Magistrate Judge, Phyllis R. Williams
Law School: Florida State University College of Law
Became a Magistrate: October, 2010

Magistrate Judge, Joyce Neal
Law School: Emory Law School
Became a Magistrate: May, 2018

Magistrate Judge, Christine A. Koehler
Law School: Georgia State University
Became a Magistrate: May, 2018

Magistrate Judge, Sabrina Scott
Law School: Georgia State University
Became a Magistrate: December 2012

Magistrate Judge, Roshonda Davis-Baugh
Law School: Saint Louis University
Became a Magistrate: April, 2019

Magistrate Judge, Shannon McNeal
Law School: University of Mississippi
Became a Magistrate: April, 2019

Magistrate Judge, Judge Cinque M. Axam
Law School: North Carolina Central University School of Law
Became a Magistrate: January, 2020

Magistrate Judge, K. Tyler Edgerton
Law School: Georgia State University
Became a Magistrate: November, 2019

Magistrate Judge, DeNorris A. Heard
Law School: Thurgood Marshall School of Law
Became a Magistrate: August, 2021

Magistrate Judge, Lynn Kleinrock
Law School: Emory University School of Law
Became a Magistrate: October, 2021

Magistrate Judge, Anna Davis
Law School: The University of Georgia School of Law
Became a Magistrate: October, 2021

Magistrate Judge, Abbi S. Taylor
Law School: Walter F. George School of Law
Became a Magistrate: April, 1997

Senior Magistrate Judge, Winston P. Bethel
Law School: John Marshall Law School
Became a Magistrate: May, 1985

Senior Magistrate Judge, Alan C. Harvey
Law School: Emory University School of Law
Became a Magistrate: May, 1985

Senior Magistrate Judge, Richard Foxworth
Law School: Woodrow Wilson College of Law
Became a Magistrate: July, 1983

Senior Magistrate Judge, Albert R. Sacks
Law School: Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University
Became a Magistrate: May, 1985

Magistrate Judge, E. Ann Guerrant
Law School: Georgia State University College of Law
Became a Magistrate: September, 2022

Magistrate Judge, Mirna G. Andrews
Law School: Emory University School of Law
Became a Magistrate: September, 2022

Magistrate Judge, Tamara S. Williams
Law School: Thurgood Marshall School of Law
Became a Magistrate: September, 2022

Magistrate Judge, Teri L. Thompson
Law School: John Marshall Law School
Became a Magistrate: September, 2022

Magistrate Judge, W. Thomas Kemp III
Law School: Walter F. George* *School of Law at Mercer University
Became a Magistrate: September, 2022