Tift County Court Docket Lookup

Tift County court docket records are kept by the Clerk of Superior Court in Tifton, Georgia. The court docket is the official public record of every case filed in the Tift County Superior Court, including civil disputes, felony criminal matters, and domestic relations proceedings. Tifton is a regional center for south Georgia, and the court handles a moderate volume of filings. This page walks through how to search the Tift County docket online, how to request copies, what docket entries contain, and what the public access rules are under Georgia law.

Tift County Clerk of Superior Court

The Tift County Clerk of Superior Court is at 237 East 2nd Street, Tifton, GA 31794. The phone number is (229) 386-7810. The clerk is the official custodian of all Superior Court records in Tift County, covering civil, criminal, and domestic cases. Find more information at www.tiftcountyga.gov.

The clerk's office can search records by party name or case number. With Tifton being a regional center, the court sees a broader mix of cases than smaller rural counties. Staff handle requests for copies, docket information, and case status regularly. For archived records from past decades, some retrieval time may be needed.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Tift County courthouse is in central Tifton. Tift County is in the Tifton Judicial Circuit and shares circuit resources with a few neighboring counties.

Search Tift County Dockets Online

Georgia's re:SearchGA portal at researchga.tylerhost.net provides free online access to Superior Court dockets. Tift County cases are searchable by party name or case number through this system. Results include docket entries with filing dates, document types, case status, and hearing information. The portal is free and requires no account for standard searches.

Search Tift County court docket records for free at the re:SearchGA portal, Georgia's official statewide case search system.

The GSCCCA portal at gsccca.org covers real estate and lien records from the Tift County clerk's office. For civil cases tied to property transactions or UCC filings, GSCCCA provides useful supplementary information. If you cannot find what you need online, call the clerk at (229) 386-7810 for direct assistance.

Requesting Court Records

You can request Tift County court records in person at 237 East 2nd Street in Tifton or by mail. In-person requests allow you to review the file and select which documents to copy. For mail requests, include the case number or party names, a description of the documents needed, a self-addressed stamped envelope, and payment for the copy fees.

Under O.C.G.A. § 15-6-77, standard copy fees are $0.50 per page. Certified copies are $2.50 for the first page and $0.50 per additional page. Mail payments are typically by money order or check. Call (229) 386-7810 before sending a mail request to confirm the current process and estimate costs.

The eCertification portal at ecert.gsccca.org allows online ordering of certified copies of certain recorded documents. This is useful if you need a certified document for legal proceedings and cannot visit the courthouse in person. Availability varies by document type.

What's in the Tift County Docket

The Tift County Superior Court docket is the full written history of every case. Civil entries include complaints, answers, pretrial motions, and final judgments. Criminal entries track arraignments, bond hearings, motions to suppress, pleas, and sentencing. Domestic dockets record divorce petitions, custody rulings, support orders, and contempt proceedings. Each entry includes the date, the type of filing or action, and the parties involved.

The docket is not the full text of every document, but it tells you what was filed and when. You can use it to identify which specific court documents you need, then request those from the clerk. For attorneys and their clients, the docket is an essential daily reference. For members of the public, it is the most direct way to check on a case without hiring legal representation to do it for you.

Open Records and Public Access

Georgia's Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, entitles anyone to access public court records in Tift County. You do not need to state a purpose. The clerk must respond to a written request within three business days. Large requests may take additional time to fulfill.

Most docket records are public. Exceptions include court-sealed records, juvenile court files, and records protected under state or federal law. If a record has been sealed by a judge, the clerk will acknowledge that a file exists but will not release the protected content without a court order. Expunged records are not visible in public docket searches.

Victims' personal information may be redacted in some records before release. This is required under Georgia law in certain case types and does not affect the public status of the rest of the record. If you receive a document with redactions, the clerk can explain what was removed if that information is itself public.

Statewide Search Tools

The Georgia Courts E-Access portal at georgiacourts.gov/eaccess-court-records provides links to court systems statewide. Tift County is in the Middle District of Georgia for federal court jurisdiction, so federal cases can be found through PACER at pacer.gov.

Georgia Legal Services Program at glsp.org helps qualifying low-income residents access legal assistance for civil matters. The eFileGA portal at odysseyefilega.com is used by attorneys for electronic filings. Once submitted and processed, those filings appear in re:SearchGA for public access.

Cities in Tift County

Tifton is the county seat and the main city in Tift County, with a population that puts it in consideration as a regional center. Other communities include Omega, Chula, and Brookfield. Tifton does not currently have a dedicated page on this site. The nearest qualifying city for records purposes is Valdosta in Lowndes County to the south.

Nearby Counties

Tift County borders several south Georgia counties. To the north is Worth County. To the northeast is Toombs County. To the east is Berrien County. To the south is Cook County, and to the west are Colquitt County and Turner County. To the northwest is Irwin County. Each county maintains its own Superior Court records with its own clerk's office.