Statewide Judicial Emergency extended to June 12

Pursuant to a declaration of Public Health Emergency by the Governor and a declaration of Judicial Emergency issued by the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, the Superior Court Judges of the Mountain Judicial Circuit issued a declaration of Judicial Emergency applicable to all counties and courts of the Mountain Judicial Circuit.  The Chief Justice announced he will extend the statewide judicial emergency until Friday, June 12, 2020.  This declaration order automatically suspends filing deadlines in court until 11:59pm on May 13, 2020, which is the date the extension order terminates.  When the order does expire, attorneys will have the same amount of time to file their documents that they had remaining at the time the original order went into effect on March 14.  In the meantime, attorneys do not need to file an extension of time.  While the order is in place, failure to file certain documents that have specific deadlines, such as briefs, cannot be grounds for dismissing a case.  However, the court encourages parties to continue to file briefs and other documents when practicable, as the court is continuing to work on cases.