Atlanta Municipal Court: Processes

Warning

This is information-only, and is not meant to be legal advice. This information was created at a point-in-time based on publicly available info on Atlanta Municipal Court's website, and by the time you see this, it might be out of date. Refer to https://court.atlantaga.gov/ for the most up-to-date info

Last Updated: 2025-10-13

These process maps are a visual representation based on information from Atlanta Municipal Court's website. Putting it all together looks pretty complex, so this flattens out the key paths through the Atlanta Municipal Court process. This document will likely be updated as we engage more with Georgia Justice Project and the ATL court system.

Primary source for the information below: https://court.atlantaga.gov/

1) Happy Path: Pay Online & Done

graph LR
    A1([Receive Citation]) --> A2[Check Case Online<br/>court.atlantaga.gov<br/> -> 'Find My Case']
    A2 --> A3{Eligible for<br/>Online Payment?}
    A3 --> |Yes| A4[Pay Fine Online<br/>Before Court Date]
    A3 --> |No| A5([Must Appear in Court<br/>See #2 or #3])
    A4 --> A6([Case Resolved])
    style A5 fill:#8391f7

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2) Court Appearance (Plead Guilty or Nolo)

graph LR
    B1([Receive Citation]) --> B2[Check Court Date<br/>on citation/online/phone]
    B2 --> B2A([Miss Court Date<br/>See #4 'Failure to Appear'])
    B2 --> B3[Attend Arraignment]
    B3 --> B4[Plead Guilty/Nolo]
    B4 --> B5[Judge Sentences]
    B5 --> B6[Pay Fine or<br/>Complete Sentence]
    B6 --> B7([Case Resolved])
    style B2A fill:#8391f7

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3) Court Appearance (Plead Not Guilty)

graph LR
    C1([Receive Citation]) --> C2[Check Court Date<br/>on citation/online/phone]
    C2 --> C2A([Miss Court Date<br/>See #4 'Failure to Appear'])
    C2 --> C3[Attend Arraignment]
    C3 --> C4[Plead Not Guilty]
    C4 --> C5{Choose Trial Type}
    C5 --> |Bench Trial| C6[Trial at<br/>Municipal Court]
    C5 --> |Jury Trial| C7[Case Bound to<br/>State Court]
    C6 --> C8{Verdict}
    C8 --> |Guilty| C9[Sentencing]
    C8 --> |Not Guilty| C10([Case Dismissed])
    C9 --> C11([Case Resolved])
    C7 --> C12([Continue at<br/>State Court])
    style C2A fill:#8391f7

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4) Failure to Appear

Note on "N" days: Found two conflicting sources for number of days, both law firm websites. The # of days is not specified in Atlanta Municipal Court website

• this says 21 days: https://www.peachstatelawyer.com/city-atlanta-municipal-court-practices-procedure/#:~:text=failure%20to%20appear%20in%20twenty%2Done%20(21)%20days
• this says 30 days: https://www.ryanwalshlegal.com/blog/city-of-atlanta-municipal-court-practices-and-procedures#:~:text=failure%20to%20appear%20in%20thirty%20(30)%20days

graph LR    
    D1([Miss Court Date]) --> D2[FTA Issued]
    D2 --> D3[Bench Warrant Issued]
    D3 --> D4[License Suspended<br/>After N* Days]
    D4 --> D5{How to Resolve?}
    D5 --> |Reset Request| D6[Get New Court Date<br/>Attend FTA Court]
    D5 --> |Pay if Eligible| D7[Pay Fine + FTA Fees]
    D6 --> D8[Appear in Court]
    D8 --> D9([Proceed with Case])
    D7 --> D10([Warrant Cleared])

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5) Need to Reschedule

graph LR
    E1([Have Court Date]) --> E2{Can You<br/>Make It?}
    E2 --> |No| E3{At Least<br/>10 Days Before?}
    E3 --> |Yes| E4[Submit Reset Request<br/>In Person or Mail]
    E3 --> |No| E5{Appear or Not?}
    E4 --> E6{Request<br/>Approved?}
    E6 --> |Yes| E7([Receive New <br/>Court Date<br/>See #2 & #3<br/>'Court Appearance'])
    E6 --> |No| E5
    E5 --> |Appear| E8[Attend Court]
    E5 --> |Don't Appear| E9([Miss Court Date<br/>See #4 'Failure to Appear'])
    E8 --> E10([Proceed with Case])
    style E9 fill:#8391f7
    style E7 fill:#8391f7

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6) Diversion Programs

graph LR
    F1([Eligible Citation]) --> F2[Apply for Program<br/>10+ Business Days<br/>Before Court]
    F2 --> F3{Program Type}
    F3 --> |PTIT| F4[Pre-Trial Intervention<br/>Complete Same Day]
    F3 --> |Alternative| F5[Restore Atlanta<br/>Programs]
    F4 --> F6([Case Resolved])
    F5 --> F6

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Diagram Key

These charts were created with MermaidJS - if you edit this page, you'll see mermaid blocks - for those, recommend using https://mermaid.live for docs & to see rendering as you type

graph LR
    Start([Start/End Point]) --> Process[Process Step]
    Process --> Decision{Decision Point}
    Decision --> |Option 1| Outcome1[Action/Outcome]
    Decision --> |Option 2| Outcome2([Reference to<br/>Another Flow])
    style Outcome2 fill:#8391f7

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