Cobb Superior Court under judicial emergency over clerk's software issues

Cobb County's chief judge issued a judicial emergency in the Superior Court due to issues stemming from a software change in the clerk's office.

Why it matters: Chief Judge Gregory Poole, in consultation with the 10 other judges, said problems in the Superior Court Clerk's Office have the potential to interfere with peoples' due process and other constitutional rights, according to a press release from the court.

How it works: A judicial emergency is allowed under state law when a system can't function normally, and the public can't use the system or "meet deadlines imposed on them by a court."

• It grants relief from deadlines relating to motions for new trials, serving parties, answering civil cases and filing appeals, plus other court proceedings.

Zoom in: According to the notice of the emergency, Cobb Clerk of Superior Court Connie Taylor's office has been plagued with an exhaustive list of issues following a case management system software conversion that began on June 24.

• Police officers have not been able to find bench warrants or protective orders that were filed, leaving them unable to enforce those orders.
• Court calendars have not been published in a timely manner and filed documents have been labeled with multiple – and sometimes false — dates.
• Defendants and their attorneys have not had the same level of access to documents as the District Attorney's Office.
• The office has also charged indigent defendants fees to copy filed documents, lost original documents like indictments, marked criminal case files as closed and told defendants no court dates had been scheduled for their cases when, in fact, they had.

Between the lines: The order also notes the office has a "high number of vacancies" that has contributed to the issues. According to numbers provided by the county's human resources Department, the office has 61 full-time and three part-time employees, but 43 vacancies.

Friction point: Taylor, a Democrat who is up for re-election, also came under fire for collecting nearly $500,000 in passport fees, which state law allows her and other clerks to do.

• She eventually returned about $84,000 of those fees to the county.
• A whistleblower complaint filed in 2022 alleged Taylor ordered employees to delete public records so they would not be given to the AJC.
• Attorney General Chris Carr's office said in April that it was reviewing an investigation launched by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

What we're watching: Poole said he hopes issues in the office will be resolved so another judicial emergency won't have to be granted.