Cobb County is home to Cobb Superior, State Court, Magistrate Court, Juvenile Court, and Probate Court. These five courts are located on or near Marietta Square. In addition, there are six municipal or city courts in Cobb County. They are in Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs and Smyrna.
Appearing in a city versus state court for a traffic ticket
If a police officer issues you a speeding ticket, where you’ll appear in court depends on whether you were inside or out of the city limits of a Cobb County municipality. For example, speeding ticket inside Smyrna’s city limits lands you in the City of Smyrna Municipal Court. However, the same ticket in unincorporated Cobb puts you in Cobb State Court right away.
Cobb County city courts cannot hold jury trials
Sometimes, for speed and convenience sake, a person decides to resolve their case in city court. However, if the case can’t be resolved to one’s satisfaction with the city solicitor or prosecutor, it may be bes to move the case up to Cobb State Court.
Also, city courts only do bench trials, a.k.a. “judge trials”, not jury trials. So, if you want a jury trial, then your case must be moved to Cobb State Court.
Misdemeanor versus felony charges
Someone charged with a felony, like possession of over an ounce of marijuana, or driving under the influence (DUI) resulting in a serious injury or fatality, goes to Cobb County Superior Court. This shows in some cases the same criminal offense may be either a misdemeanor (resolvable in city or state court) or a felony (resolvable only in superior court) depending on different factors – for example, weight in the case of marijuana possession. Another example is that a person’s fourth DUI arrest in a 10-year period will likely be prosecuted as a felony regardless of whether there were casualties. See the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) §40-6-391(c)(4).