Georgia Code
Article 2 - Clerks of Superior Courts
§ 15-6-77. Fees; Construction of Other Fee Provisions

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(i) No fees shall be charged for the following:
(j) All laws in force in this state which provide compensation for clerks of the superior courts for the discharge of duties not enumerated in this Code section nor in conflict with this Code section shall remain in full force and effect.
(k) No fees, assessments, or other charges may be assessed or collected except as authorized in this Code section or some other general law expressly providing for same.
(l) The clerk of superior court may provide such additional services for which there is no fee specified by statute in connection with the operation of the clerk’s offices as may be requested by the public and agreed to by the clerk. Any charges for such additional services shall be as agreed to between the clerk and the party making the request. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require any clerk to provide any such service not otherwise required by law.
(m) The sheriffs of this state shall not be required to pay recording fees for criminal bonds and writs of fieri facias issued on criminal bond forfeitures.
(n) The clerk of superior court shall not be required to refund excess sums tendered to the clerk as payment of costs or fees enumerated in this Code section when such payment exceeds the amount required by this Code section by less than $15.00.
(o) In addition to the fees required by this Code section:
(1) With respect to any instrument that includes a request for cancellation, satisfaction, or release of any instrument described in division (f)(1)(A)(i) or (f)(l)(A)(ii) of this Code section, the clerk shall file, index, and record the cancellation of each such instrument identified and requested to be canceled, provided that the requesting party pays the applicable filing fee and that such instrument accurately identifies the recording information for such instrument to be canceled, satisfied, or released; and
(p) Notwithstanding any provision of this Code section to the contrary, the filing fee for an application to be appointed as a certified process server pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (h) of Code Section 9-11-4.1 shall be $58.00.
History. Laws 1792, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, pp. 353, 354; Ga. L. 1857, p. 49, § 2; Code 1863, § 3619; Code 1868, § 3644; Ga. L. 1870, p. 67, § 1; Code 1873, § 3695; Ga. L. 1880-81, p. 87, § 1; Code 1882, § 3695; Civil Code 1895, § 5397; Penal Code 1895, § 1106; Civil Code 1910, § 5995; Penal Code 1910, § 1133; Ga. L. 1921, p. 184, § 1; Code 1933, § 24-2727; Ga. L. 1939, p. 345, § 2; Ga. L. 1946, p. 225, § 1; Ga. L. 1946, p. 726, § 1; Ga. L. 1947, p. 1177, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 32, § 2; Ga. L. 1955, p. 421, § 1; Ga. L. 1957, p. 321, § 1; Ga. L. 1965, p. 525, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1970, p. 497, § 1; Ga. L. 1971, p. 214, § 1; Ga. L. 1971, p. 699, § 1; Ga. L. 1971, p. 774, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 664, §§ 1, 4; Ga. L. 1977, p. 1098, § 4; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1787, § 2; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1045, § 1; Code 1933, §§ 24-2727.1, 24-2727.2, 24-2727.3, 24-2727.4, 24-2727.5, 24-2727.6, 24-2727.7, enacted by Ga. L. 1981, p. 1396, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 15; Ga. L. 1982, p. 879, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1210, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1002, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 320, § 3; Ga. L. 1988, p. 320, § 2; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 15; Ga. L. 1989, p. 395, § 5; Ga. L. 1989, p. 498, § 3; Ga. L. 1989, p. 931, § 3; Ga. L. 1989, p. 946, § 109; Ga. L. 1990, p. 805, § 2; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1051, § 3; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1324, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1311, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1550, § 9; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1693, § 15; Ga. L. 1995, p. 260, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 863, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 883, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1502, § 2; Ga. L. 2001, p. 362, § 27; Ga. L. 2001, p. 885, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 2002, p. 799, § 3; Ga. L. 2002, p. 832, § 2; Ga. L. 2003, p. 140, § 15; Ga. L. 2003, p. 258, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 900, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 532, § 1/HB 989; Ga. L. 2007, p. 595, § 4/HB 197; Ga. L. 2008, p. 164, § 1/HB 1018; Ga. L. 2009, p. 135, § 1/HB 453; Ga. L. 2010, p. 9, § 1-38/HB 1055; Ga. L. 2011, p. 24, § 2/HB 41; Ga. L. 2012, p. 216, § 1/HB 198; Ga. L. 2012, p. 819, § 2/HB 1048; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-5/HB 310; Ga. L. 2016, p. 435, § 1/HB 851; Ga. L. 2019, p. 683, § 2/HB 288; Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 6-3/HB 239; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 15/SB 429.
The 2019 amendments.
The first 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, in subsection (b), in the first sentence, inserted “15-6-61,” and added “, 15-6-98, 45-17-4, or 47-14-51, or as otherwise provided by law as a deduction from the applicable fee”; substituted the present provisions of the first sentence of subsection (c) for the former provisions, which read: “In all counties in this state where the clerk of the superior court is paid or compensated on a salary basis, the fees provided for in this Code section shall be paid into the county treasury less and except such sums as are otherwise directed to be paid pursuant to Code Section 15-6-61 and such sums as are collected pursuant to Code Section 36-15-9 and Code Section 15-6-77.4, which sums shall be remitted to such authorities as provided by law.”; deleted “and shall specifically control over the provisions of Code Sections 15-6-77.1, 15-6-77.2, and 15-6-77.3” following “provisions of law” at the end of paragraph (e)(4); rewrote subsection (f), which read: “Sums for filing documents, instruments, etc., pertaining to real estate or personal property, such sums to include recording and returning where applicable, shall be as follows:
“(1)(A)(i) Filing all instruments pertaining to real estate including deeds, deeds of trust, affidavits, releases, notices and certificates, and cancellation of deeds, first page . . . . . $ 9.50
“Each page, after the first . . . . . 2.00
“(ii) Filing all instruments pertaining to real estate and personal property including liens on real estate and personal property, notice filings for Uniform Commercial Code related real estate, tax liens, hospital liens, writs of fieri facias, notices of lis pendens, written information on utilities, cancellations of liens, and writs of fieri facias, first page . . . . . 4.50
“Each page, after the first . . . . . 2.00
“(B) Filing and indexing financing statements, amendments to financing statements, continuation statements, termination statements, release of collateral, or other filing pursuant to Article 9 of Title 11, first page . . . . . 10.00
“Each page, after the first . . . . . 2.00
“(2) Filing maps or plats, each page . . . . . 7.50
“(3) For processing an assignment of a security deed, for each deed assigned . . . . . 4.50”; deleted former paragraph (o)(1), which read: “When any instrument that is statutorily required to be cross indexed, canceled, satisfied, or released or when a party requests the clerk to cross index an instrument that is not otherwise required by law to be cross indexed to any other previously recorded or affected document, the clerk of superior court shall charge an additional fee of $2.00 for each additional cross indexed entry;”; deleted former paragraph (o)(2), which read: “For recording any instrument that includes a request for cancellation, satisfaction, or release of more than one instrument as described in division (f)(1)(A)(i) of this Code section, the filing fee specified in division (f)(1)(A)(i) of this Code section shall be charged for each such instrument which is to be canceled, satisfied, or released;”; deleted former paragraph (o)(3), which read: “For recording any instrument that includes a request for cancellation, satisfaction, or release of more than one instrument as described in division (f)(1)(A)(ii) of this Code section, the filing fee specified in division (f)(1)(A)(ii) of this Code section shall be charged for each such instrument which is to be canceled, satisfied, or released;”; deleted former paragraph (o)(4), which read: “For any instrument that includes a request for the clerk to cross index the instrument to a previously recorded or affected instrument but for which cross indexing is not otherwise required by law, the clerk shall file, index, record, and cross index each such instrument for which a request has been made upon receiving payment from the requesting party as specified by paragraph (1) of this subsection and written information specifying accurately the instrument to be cross indexed;”, redesignated former paragraphs (o)(5) and (o)(6) as present paragraphs (o)(1) and (o)(2), respectively; and inserted a comma following “canceled” and substituted “applicable filing fee” for “filing fee specified by paragraph (2) or (3) of this subsection, as applicable,” in the middle of paragraph (o)(1). The second 2019 amendment, effective May 7, 2019, added “and shall be given a new case number by the clerk of the superior court; provided, however, that such new case number shall not subject a party to any fee other than provided for in this Code section” at the end of the second sentence of paragraph (e)(1).
The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in the undesignated language at the end of divisions (f)(1)(A)(i) and (f)(1)(A)(ii).
Cross references.
Court costs generally, § 9-15-1 et seq.
Deposits of court costs, § 9-15-4 .
Giving of receipts for fees, and penalty for charging excessive fees, § 15-13-30 et seq.
Charges for purpose of providing funds for purchasing books for county law libraries, § 36-15-9 .
Civil actions and remedies for the collections of fines, costs, restitution, and reparation ordered as a condition of probation, § 42-8-34.2 .
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2008, “canceled” was substituted for “cancelled” throughout subsection (o).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2019, a comma was inserted following “45-17-4” in subsection (c).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1995, p. 260, § 6, not codified by the General Assembly, provided that Section 1 of that Act, which amended subsection (f) of this Code section, would be repealed on July 1, 1996; this repeal provision was amended by Ga. L. 1996, p. 1502, § 4, and by Ga. L. 1997, p. 565, § 5, neither of which sections was codified by the General Assembly, so as to delete the reference to the repeal of Section 1 of the 1995 Act. Ga. L. 1996, p. 1502, § 2, effective July 1, 1998, amended the version of subparagraph (f)(1)(A) of this Code section enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 260, § 1. The delayed effective date of the 1996 amendment to subparagraph (f)(1)(A) was changed to January 1, 2004, by Ga. L. 1997, p. 565, § 6.
Ga. L. 2002, p. 832, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “It is the general intent of this Act to codify and to extend for a further period of two years the future ‘sunset’ of certain provisions relating to superior court clerks’ fees and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority.”
Ga. L. 2002, p. 832, § 5, not codified by the General Assembly, provided: “The following provisions of law are repealed:
“(1) Section 6 of an Act amending Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to courts, approved April 7, 1995 (Ga. L. 1995, p. 260), as amended, which now repealed section would have provided for a future repeal or sunset of certain provisions relating to fees of superior court clerks and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority; and
“(2) Section 2 of an Act amending Article 2 of Chapter 6 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to clerks of superior courts, approved April 16, 1996 (Ga. L. 1996, p. 1502), as amended, which now repealed section would have provided for a future change in the fees of superior court clerks.”
Ga. L. 2007, p. 595, § 5/HB 197, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that this Act shall apply to all trials which occur on or after July 1, 2007.
Ga. L. 2011, p. 24, § 4/HB 41, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that: “This Act shall apply retroactively to all cases for which fees have not been assessed.” The effective date of this Act was March 16, 2011.
Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment by this Act shall apply to sentences entered on or after July 1, 2015.
Law reviews.
For note on 1989 amendment to this Code section, see 6 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 184 (1989).
For note on 1993 amendment of this Code section, see 10 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 41 (1993).
For note on the 1994 amendment of this Code section, see 11 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 70 (1994).
For survey article on real property law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 371 (2007).
For comment, “ ‘The Twain Shall Meet’: A Real Property Approach to Article 9 Perfection,” see 64 Emory L.J. 1103 (2015).
For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015).
For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2019).
For article, “2019 Legislative Review,” see 24 Ga. St. B.J. 28 (June 2019).
For annual survey on domestic relations, see 71 Mercer L. Rev. 83 (2019).

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