Clerk of superior court tifton, tift county, georgia Site visitation conducted by John Mack Freeman On May 26, 2012

Mission of clerk of court The Superior Court of Tift County does not have its own mission statement. However, the front page of its website does have a brief statement of purpose. It is quoted in full here: The office of the Clerks of Courts is responsible for filing and recording real-estate deeds, civil and criminal proceedings for Superior, State, and Juvenile Court. The office also handles acceptance agency for passports, notary public applications and collect traffic fines.

Location and hours of operation Tift County Courthouse on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Tift Avenue in Tifton, Georgia. Mail requests to: PO Box 354 Tifton, GA 31794 Phone number: 229-386-7813 Open Monday-Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM

Description of collection The Clerk of Court for Tifton/Tift County, Georgia is charged with holding records of all official proceedings of the county. All of the clerk’s holdings are held in the courthouse. Holdings date back to the founding of the county in 1905, though records are more complete after 1950. Records include: Civil filings Juvenile criminal records Custodial records Adoptions Criminal records Real estate records Trade name Army discharge papers Partnership records Liens

Services provided Access to records of Tifton and Tift County from 9 AM – 5 PM. Research assistance for judicial system of Tift County. Basic consultation about how to use records. Photocopying - .50 for self-copying, $1 if staff does it for you.

Other services The Clerk of Court of Tift County handles all of the paperwork and customer service that relates to parking and traffic tickets. The Clerk of Court maintains the jury roster of Tift County and calls people to serve on juries for the Superior Court of Tift County as needed.

Gwen pate – tift county clerk of court qualifications and experience Education High school diploma, Tift County High School 1 year of college (no degree) Experience Began working for the Clerk of Court’s office in August 1969 (over 42 years of experience) Elected Clerk of Court by Tifton, Georgia in 1992. Has served as Clerk of Court since that time. Has been re-elected (unopposed) four times.

Institutional relationships The primary institutional relationship is with the Superior Court judges of Tift County. Although the Clerk’s office is technically independent, it takes most of its guidance from the judges. Records shared with Tax Assessor’s office Funding comes from the city of Tifton. Clerk’s office employees 11 city workers.

Common users The most common users are lawyers using the records in the course of civil and real estate proceedings. The most commonly consulted records are property and lien records. Additionally, the Clerk’s office is seeing an increase in people requesting copies of criminal records for employment and legal purposes.

Common obstacles People do not know what types of records they want to consult. People do not know that the Clerk of Court’s records are freely accessible People do not have the full, legal name of the person they are looking for. People do not have an idea of the year that they are searching for.

Ethical considerations Records must be kept accurately due to their necessity in current court proceedings All records must be available to the public at all times, regardless of how uncomfortable certain information may make employees of the clerk’s office (for instance, if any of the employees had a prior criminal record) No person can have access to juvenile criminal records or adoption records in the state of Georgia without an express order from a court of law. The Clerk’s office may have to reject requests for information from parents and children about these potentially volatile subjects due to their protected natures.

Advice for classmates Ask Gwen Pate for help. As you can tell from her experience, she knows her way around the records here backwards and forwards. She was an incredibly gracious interviewee, and she can probably help speed up your search. Know what kind of records you are looking for ahead of time as the records room is not the easiest room to browse in. Conversely, be open to coming back again at a later date.

Advice for classmates There is no electronic listing of what is available on the Clerk of Court’s website. If you are interested in a commonly held type of legal document, call the Clerk’s office to make sure that it’s there before travelling. Remember that the Clerk’s office is going to be closed for all federal and state of Georgia holidays because it is a government archive.

REFERENCES Pate, Gwen. Personal Interview. 26 May 2010. “Superior Court/Traffic/Arrest.” Tift County, 2012. Web. Retrieved 30 May 2012 from http://www.tiftcounty.org/departmentHome.php?dp=7. Pictures courtesy of Microsoft clip art collection and the personal photograph collection of John Mack Freeman.