Dougherty County Court Dockets
A court docket is the court's running list of case events. In Dougherty County, a docket can show the filing date, party names, case number, case type, hearings, motions, orders, judge, status, and disposition when those items are entered in the case-management system. A docket is not the same as the full case file. The docket is closer to a table of contents and timeline, while the full court record may include pleadings, exhibits, orders, sentencing papers, or other documents.
Dougherty County docket research must separate two ideas. A case docket is tied to one case and is usually found through the Clerk of Courts Record System. A court calendar is a schedule for a judge, courtroom, trial week, arraignment session, or special docket. Superior Court and State Court both use annual calendar PDFs from official county pages, and Albany Municipal Court publishes schedule rules for arraignments, bench trials, and nuisance or animal control calendars.
- Docket
- A chronological list of filings, hearings, orders, and case events.
- Calendar
- A schedule of court sessions, trial terms, arraignments, or hearing days.
- Disposition
- The final outcome of a case or charge, such as dismissed, guilty, judgment entered, or closed.
- Continuance
- A postponed hearing or trial date.
Find Dougherty County Dockets
The main online route for Dougherty County case dockets is the Clerk of Courts Record System. The Clerk page calls this the civil and criminal case search. It supports Search By Party, Search By Associated Party, and Search By Case Number routes. The portal disclaimer tells searchers to use spelling variations and directs questions to Clerk of Superior Court Phyllis N. Johnson at 229-431-2198.
The portal is most useful when the user already knows a defendant name, party name, or case number. If the goal is a future trial week or judge calendar rather than a single case history, the county calendar pages may be more direct. If the goal is a city traffic or ordinance setting, Albany Municipal Court should be checked because those dockets are separate from county Superior Court and State Court calendars.
- Start with the Clerk of Courts Record System for case-specific civil or criminal docket entries.
- Choose Search By Party when a party name is known, or Search By Case Number when a notice or citation has the exact number.
- Use last name followed by first name, omit suffixes, and try alternate spellings if the result set is thin.
- Open the case result and review the docket entries for filings, hearings, orders, status, and disposition.
- Check the Superior Court, State Court, or Albany Municipal Court calendar source if the issue is a future court date.
- Call the correct office if the case is sealed, old, missing, continued, or not yet updated online.
Dougherty County Docket Fields
Public portal records contain real parties and cases, so docket examples should be handled carefully. The CM Web Search routes and sample field inventory still identify the fields a public docket user should expect to evaluate. The most important fields are the case number, the case type, the court, the filing date, the event list, and the current status or final disposition.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | The clerk's unique identifier for docket lookup, court contact, and copy requests. |
| Court | The venue or court class, such as Superior Court, State Court, Magistrate Court, Probate Court, or Municipal Court. |
| Case Type | The broad category, including civil, criminal, family, traffic, probate, or local ordinance matters. |
| Party Name | The listed plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, criminal defendant, or other named party. |
| Associated Party | A linked person, attorney, or participant when the system displays that relationship. |
| Filing Date | The date the clerk opened or indexed the matter. |
| Docket Entry | A filing, hearing, order, motion, notice, plea, judgment, sentence, or other event in sequence. |
| Hearing Date | A scheduled court appearance or trial setting when exposed by the system or calendar. |
| Status | The current posture, such as active, closed, pending, disposed, or continued, depending on local labels. |
| Disposition | The final outcome after adjudication or closure. |
Note: A docket entry can lag behind a courtroom event, so verify urgent hearing dates with the court office.
Dougherty County Superior Calendars
Superior Court is the highest local trial court in Dougherty County. It sits in the Judicial Building on Pine Avenue and handles felony criminal cases, title-to-land matters, divorce, equity, jury trials, bench trials, judgments, sentences, and an annual caseload of about 4,950 cases. For docket and calendar research, the county Superior Court page and the criminal trial calendars page are important because trial calendars may appear as annual calendar PDFs outside the case search portal.
The Superior Court criminal trial calendars page links official annual calendar material. Those calendars are not a substitute for a case docket, but they help users understand trial terms and court scheduling. A party with a specific case should still use CM Web Search or contact the Clerk to confirm the latest case-specific docket entries.
The Superior Court criminal trial calendars page captures scheduling information outside the case portal.
That separate calendar source is useful when the public case search gives a docket history but not enough context about trial weeks or annual terms.
Dougherty County Docket Sources
State Court and Municipal Court add separate docket paths. Dougherty County State Court handles misdemeanor offenses punishable by twelve months or less and civil cases concurrent with Superior Court except divorce, land-title, and equity matters. The county page links 2026, 2025, and 2024 State Court Calendar PDFs. State Court also lists coordinator contacts: Tracie Bennett for criminal cases at 229-431-2152 and Amy Cox for civil cases at 229-302-3722.
Albany Municipal Court handles city ordinance violations, state traffic offenses, DUI, underage alcohol, marijuana under one ounce, firearms, nuisance and abatement cases, and animal control citations. In-custody arraignments occur at the Dougherty County Jail Facility at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Arraignments and bench trials occur at the Albany Law Enforcement Center, 201 W. Oglethorpe Blvd., on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 9:00 a.m. or after jail arraignments. Animal Control and Nuisance Abatement dockets are heard on the fourth Friday each month. Sheriff Terron K. Hayes oversees jail and courthouse security functions, but court dates still come from the court or Clerk record.
| Court or Source | Docket or Calendar Use | Contact Path |
|---|---|---|
| Clerk CM Web Search | Case-specific civil and criminal docket entries. | Search by party, associated party, or case number. |
| Superior Court | Felony, divorce, land, equity, trial, and sentence calendars. | Superior Court page and criminal trial calendars. |
| State Court | Misdemeanor and civil calendar PDFs. | State Court page and case coordinators. |
| Magistrate Court | Warrants, committals, bad checks, garnishments, subpoenas, and small civil matters. | 229-431-3216. |
| Albany Municipal Court | Traffic, ordinance, DUI, city misdemeanor, animal, and nuisance dockets. | 229-431-2865 and municipal court resources. |
The State Court history page has calendar and court context relevant to Dougherty County court dockets.
State Court docket checks should not be merged with Albany Municipal Court traffic settings or Superior Court felony trial calendars.
Dougherty County Docket Comparison
A Dougherty County docket is best for tracking movement. The full case record is better for reading the substance of a filing or order. For example, a docket may say that a motion was filed, a hearing was set, or a sentence was entered. The full court file may hold the actual motion, order, sentencing document, or judgment. Certified copies come from the office that holds the record, not from a screenshot of a docket result.
| Question | Docket | Full Case Record |
|---|---|---|
| Format | List of dated entries and events. | Underlying pleadings, orders, notices, judgments, and other papers. |
| Best Use | Track status, hearing dates, and case movement. | Read legal content, verify orders, or obtain certified copies. |
| Online Access | Often visible through CM Web Search or calendar PDFs. | May require clerk contact, copy fees, or in-person request. |
| Limits | May lag or use short event labels. | May include sealed, restricted, or nonpublic material. |
Read Dougherty County Dockets
Several docket terms carry special meaning. A filing is a document submitted to the clerk. A motion is a request for a court order. An order is the judge's written ruling. A judgment is a final court decision on rights, money owed, or another legal issue. A disposition is the final outcome of a case or charge. A continuance means a hearing or trial was postponed.
Criminal docket users should separate charge, plea, disposition, and sentence. A charge is an allegation. A plea is the defendant's formal response. A disposition is the outcome. A sentence is the punishment after conviction. Jail booking data and wanted-person data are not the same thing as a criminal court docket, so an arrest or warrant should be checked against the court case before treating it as a final outcome. For the full prosecution file, use Dougherty County criminal court records.
Federal dockets are separate. PACER, CourtListener, the Middle District of Georgia, and the bankruptcy court are not county docket systems. Use them only when the case is in federal court.