WHAT IS A JUDICIAL CIRCUIT?
The State of Georgia has 159 counties. Under the Constitution for the State of Georgia, each county is required to have certain courts. Those courts are a Superior Court, Probate Court and a Magistrate Court. The names of the courts can be confusing inasmuch as the name does not always imply the true function of the court. Obviously the Probate Court handles probate matters, but a Superior Court does not mean it is superior other than to imply it is the highest trial court. In fact, the Superior Court is, in many states, simply called a Circuit Court or a District Court. The functions of each of these courts is different and the responsibility of funding for the courts is also different.
There are other differences as well. The Probate Court and the Magistrate Court of a county are funded entirely by the county. That includes the salaries for the judges of these courts. On the other hand, the Judges of the Superior Court for the Judicial Circuit and the District Attorney for the Judicial Circuit are funded by the State. That is, the salaries for Superior Court Judges and District Attorneys are paid primarily by the State, not the county. Counties are, however, authorized to supplement the salaries of the Judges and the District Attorneys.
The 159 counties within the State are divided into Judicial Circuits. A circuit must be made up of at least one county, but may include other counties as well. Therefore, while there are 159 counties in the state, and 159 Superior Courts, there are only 49 Judicial Circuits. The Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit is the largest and it is composed of 8 counties. The Counties are: Baldwin, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam and Wilkinson. While there is a Superior Court in each of the Counties, and for example, the Court would be referred to as the Superior Court of Morgan County, the Judges are referred to as the Superior Court Judge for the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, and the District Attorney is the District Attorney for the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, not the District Attorney for Morgan County.
There are 15 Judicial Circuits that are single county circuits. They are:
Atlanta Judicial Circuit (Fulton County),
Bell-Forsyth (Forsyth County),
Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit (Cherokee County),
Clayton Judicial Circuit (Clayton County)
Cobb Judicial Circuit (Cobb County),
Dougherty Judicial Circuit (Dougherty County),
Douglas Judicial Circuit (Douglas County),
Eastern Judicial Circuit (Chatham County),
Flint Judicial Circuit (Henry County),
Gwinnett Judicial Circuit (Gwinnett County),
Houston Judicial Circuit (Houston County),
Paulding Judicial Circuit (Paulding County),
Rockdale Judicial Circuit (Rockdale County),
Rome Judicial Circuit (Floyd County) and
Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit (Dekalb County).
Some counties have State Courts. Again, the name does not accurately reflect the function of the court. It is actually a county court and is created by the legislature, not the Constitution. The State Courts handle the misdemeanor criminal cases and civil matters that are not specifically required by the State Constitution or general laws to be handled in the Superior or other Court. In most cases the prosecution of misdemeanor cases in the State Court is a function that is performed by the Solicitor General for that particular State Court. The Judicial Circuits do not have Solicitors General, because each of the 159 counties could have a State court if the governing authority for that county and the State Legislature so desired. At the present time, while there are only 49 Judicial Circuits, there are 70 State Courts. However, there are only 67 Solicitors General. The reason for the different number of State Courts and Solicitors General is that while there is a State Court of Chatham County, State Court of Dougherty County and the State Court of Rockdale County there is no Solicitor General for those counties. The District Attorney for the Eastern Judicial Circuit is the prosecutor for the State Court of Chatham County, the District Attorney for the Dougherty Judicial Circuit is the prosecutor for the State Court of Dougherty County and the District Attorney for the Rockdale Judicial Circuit is the prosecutor for the State Court of Rockdale County.
So, if a court or other court personnel is referred to as a part of a judicial circuit, that should imply a state function, not a county function. The County Judges are State Court Judges, Probate Judges and Magistrate Judges and the County prosecutors are the Solicitors General. However, some individuals may improperly refer to these offices as a Magistrate Court of a Judicial Circuit or a Solicitor General of a Judicial Circuit.