Superior Court of DeKalb County Filing Rules

The consolidated pre-trial order must follow the form prescribed by Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.2.

At a final hearing without settlement, the defendant must bring the financial affidavit, child-support worksheets and schedules, parenting plan, child-support addendum, and attendance certificate.

Failure to comply with USCR 7.3 may result in a costs assessment as permitted by that rule.

A divorce involving children must include a Settlement Agreement, Child Support Addendum, Child Support Worksheet and Schedules, and Parenting Plan.

When trial is called with less notice than contemplated by the order, the required submissions are due by the parties’ ordered appearance time or as the Court otherwise directs.

A defendant may waive arraignment by filing a written waiver no later than 4:00 p.m. on the business day immediately before the arraignment calendar and serving copies on the state and court.

An uncontested divorce may not be finalized until 31 days have passed after the proof of service is filed.

The plaintiff or petitioner must file proof of service of the initial complaint or petition and related filings within 90 days, or the case may be dismissed absent proof of diligence and court permission.

Each proposed order must be emailed to the court and copied to all counsel of record.

The domestic-cases standing order must be served on the defendant with the complaint.

Other inquiries should be directed by email to Judicial Assistant Fran Shaw.

For adoption scheduling, contact the Staff Attorney; a home investigation is also required.

Counsel who has previously used Courtroom 7B’s evidence-presentation technology should arrange with Court Administration IT to test media before the court proceeding to check for corruption and compatibility.

The consolidated pretrial order must follow the form prescribed by Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.2.

Proposed voir dire questions must comply with the standing order's parameters and be emailed to the Court in Word format.

The emailed courtesy copy of a civil or domestic proposed order must be in Word format.

A filing intended to ensure the Court's attention should be accompanied by an emailed courtesy copy to Ms. Rivera.

A courtesy copy of each criminal order must be emailed to the criminal litigation manager, staff attorney, and judicial assistant.

For trials beginning Monday or Tuesday, required pretrial submissions must be emailed to opposing counsel and the court by 5:00 PM the preceding Thursday; for trials beginning Wednesday or Thursday, they are due no later than three business days before trial.

Civil and domestic proposed orders must be electronically filed with the Clerk of Superior Court, with a Word-format courtesy copy emailed to the staff attorney.

Every motion for a new trial must be emailed to the court.

A moving party requesting an extension of discovery deadlines must submit a proposed Revised Scheduling Order containing all proposed extensions and a statement of prior extension rulings.

A written motion for a continuance or status conference must be submitted at least five business days before the trial date and must specifically state the grounds for the request.

Unless advance permission is obtained, a motion may not exceed 20 pages, excluding the specified supporting materials.

A party must discuss discovery disputes with the opposing party before filing a motion to compel or motion for a protective order, and the requirement also applies to disputes involving non-parties.

All parties must attend mediation before the court schedules any hearing.

The parties must confer before the motions hearing to determine whether outstanding motions can be narrowed or resolved by agreement.

Each motion must address a single issue, be filed separately, identify the specific statement or evidence, and provide a suppression theory.

The court service cost is $50, subject to change.