The Superior Courts of the Northeastern Judicial Circuit (NJC), comprised of Hall and Dawson counties, closed another record number of cases in 2023.
At year-end, the circuit reported 5,761 dispositions – a 3% increase over the previous year and a 7% increase over pre-pandemic numbers. Like all Georgia courts, the circuit has been working to dispose of a pandemic-imposed backlog of cases, particularly criminal cases. Last year’s dispositions yielded a clearance rate of 103% across the two counties, which is a key performance measure indicating whether a court is keeping up with its incoming caseload.
“We’re enormously proud of what we the circuit has been able to achieve over these last three years,” Chief Superior Court Judge Jason J. Deal (pictured) said Monday. “Thanks to the strong cooperation and dedication of a lot of stakeholders – the local bar, Public Defender, District Attorney, the Sheriff’s Office, Clerk of Court, County Administration, Court Administration; this validates a lot of hard work.”
A court’s clearance rate is determined by dividing the total number of cases disposed by the total number of cases filed.