The Authority’s success with the Statewide Real Estate Deed Project resulted in our being assigned additional court-related responsibilities by the legislature. Before May 2004, there was no central accounting of millions of dollars in add-ons and surcharges on court fines and fees. There are up to 27 programs that are funded with these surcharges, with Indigent Defense being the latest such fund. The passage of HB1EX in May 2004 gave the Authority the responsibility for developing a tracking system, setting rules for remittances and reports, and distributing the surcharges to several beneficiary funds.

Within 60 days, the Authority had an automated tracking system on-line and staff in place to work with over 1100 Georgia courts. We began to improve the process of remitting and reporting. Because of the Authority’s efforts, Georgia’s citizens, public officials and beneficiary funds can now log onto www.courttrax.org and see the remittances and reports from over 1100 courts. In Fiscal 2006, over $463 million was distributed to the beneficiary funds and the new process provided transparency so that all may see it via our reports.

David Williams
Executive Director

We’re proud to feature Rosemary Fordham Phillips who has served as Clerk of Superior Court of Baldwin County since 1989. Rosemary joined the clerk’s office in 1967, three days after her high school graduation, and continued to work there part-time through college. In her own words, she's been a "flunkie, deputy clerk, chief deputy, and finally clerk." A life-long resident of Baldwin County, she has three adult sons, and loves bass fishing with her husband, cutting grass on the tractor at the family farm, and caring for their four dogs. She loves the clerk's office because "it's something new every day -- even after thirty-plus years!"