Georgia Court Records: Why There's No Statewide Case Search, and How to Find Yours

Georgia has no public website that searches every court case in the state by name. The one statewide portal most people find first, GSCCCA, is not a case search at all, and understanding that trap is the first step to actually finding a Georgia court record.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This guide is part of a broader look at court records by state; for the mechanics of federal versus state versus county searches generally, see how to look up court records and are court records public.

The GSCCCA Trap: Not a Case Search

Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, at gsccca.org, is the most prominent statewide records portal in Georgia, and it is genuinely useful for what it does. Its own search page lists the categories it covers: UCC indexes, real estate (consolidated) indexes, the PT-61 index, lien indexes including state revenue liens, plat indexes, notary indexes, and the carbon registry. There is no civil case filing or court docket search offered anywhere on that page. A reader looking for a divorce case, a criminal charge, or a civil lawsuit will not find it on GSCCCA, no matter how the search is phrased, because that is not what the system indexes. GSCCCA access runs on paid subscription tiers, priced as of July 1, 2025 at $14.95 per month for a regular account and $29.95 per month for a premium account with additional search options, but that pricing applies to property and lien records, not case dockets.

PeachCourt and Participating-Court Portals

PeachCourt (peachcourt.com) is a civil and criminal e-filing and document-access portal that a number of Georgia state and superior courts use, but it covers only participating courts, not every court in Georgia. A court that has not signed on to PeachCourt will not appear there at all. Anyone searching PeachCourt should confirm first that the specific court and county they need is actually a participant.

Finding a Specific Court's Records

Because Georgia has no unified statewide index, the reliable method is to identify the specific court, whether Superior, State, Magistrate, Probate, or Municipal, where the case was or would have been filed, then contact or search that court's Clerk directly. Some clerks offer their own free online search; others require a phone call, an in-person visit, or a written records request. PeachCourt is worth checking as a first step for civil and criminal cases in participating counties, but a negative result there does not mean the case does not exist, since a court outside PeachCourt's network would simply not show up.

What's Public and What's Restricted

Georgia's access standard for court records is Uniform Superior Court Rule 21, which states that "all court records are public and are to be available for public inspection unless public access is limited by law or by the procedure set forth below." Sealing a record requires a written motion and a hearing at which the public may be heard, and a court may seal only on "a finding that the harm otherwise resulting to the privacy of a person in interest clearly outweighs the public interest," with the sealing order stating the specific scope and duration of the restriction. Certain categories stay restricted regardless of that general presumption, including juvenile court files, adoption records, mental health commitment records, and grand jury deliberation materials.

Sealing a Georgia Court Record

Georgia's approach to sealing is motion-based under USCR 21 rather than built around a single broad statutory "expungement" scheme for adult convictions. Separately, Georgia also has an administrative process, run outside the courts, for restricting certain arrest and criminal history information from public view. That process is distinct from a judge sealing a court case file under USCR 21, and eligibility and mechanics differ by offense and case outcome. For the eligibility rules and filing steps, see Georgia expungement and record restriction laws, which this page does not duplicate. Georgia is not on the current list of states with an automatic, broad conviction-sealing law.

Certified Copies

A certified copy of a Georgia court document comes from the Clerk of the specific Superior, State, or Magistrate court where the case was filed. Courts that do not participate in PeachCourt generally require an in-person visit or a mailed request.

Using Georgia Court Records the Right Way

Because there is no single search covering the whole state, a Georgia records search takes real legwork, and that legwork should stay focused on legitimate personal-use purposes, such as checking your own case, confirming a court date, or researching a specific matter you have reason to look into. It is not a substitute for a background check. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a criminal conviction is exempt from the seven-year reporting-window limit that applies to arrests and most civil judgments, meaning a conviction can be reported indefinitely; only Georgia's own restriction or sealing process removes it from a compliant background report. The FTC's 2023 settlement with TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate, over marketing public-records reports for tenant and employee screening without following federal background-check law, is a reminder that using a court or land-records portal to screen a person for housing or a job carries real legal exposure if it is not done through an FCRA-compliant process.

Disclaimer

This article explains how Georgia court records are organized and searched. It is general legal information, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for a licensed legal or background-screening professional. Portal features and fees change without notice; verify current details directly with the relevant clerk or portal. Consult a Georgia-licensed attorney for advice about a specific case.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.