State-wide Fee Increase

House Bill 1055 adopted by the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia State Senate and signed into law May 14, 2010, by Governor Sonny Perdue caused all court costs to increase effective that day.

Pursuant to the above, attached please find a list of court cost fee increases from the Fulton County Daily Report, the Fulton County’s official court record.

In summary, the court costs increased as follows:

• An additional fee of $125  will be added to the existing court filing fee in both the superior and the state courts.  Each county in the superior court system charges a different court filing fee.  Consequently, the new filing fee is the existing fee plus $125.00 with the total varying by county;
• The fee to file a civil matter in magistrate increases to $22 per case from $20 per case;
• The fee to prepare a record and transcript to the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals increases to $10.00 per page from $1.50 per page;
• The fee for a sheriff to serve a copy of the process and return the original in civil cases increases to $50.00 per copy from $25.00 per copy;
• In probate court, a petition or motion for attorney’s fees increases to $70.00 from $50.00;
• Uncertified copies of documents in superior court increases to $0.50 per page from $0.25 per page.

While we are shocked and appalled at the fee increase, we are required by law to comply.

Special thanks to Cheryl Rogers for her contribution to this article.