Paulding County Magistrate Court Honored for Excellence in Caseload Management

The Judicial Council of Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts presented the Paulding County Magistrate Court with a 2017 Clearance Rate Excellence Award. The Standing Committee on Judicial Workload Assessment measured the number of cases received versus the number of cases cleared to determine which courts qualified for the award. Only the top 10% of each class of court received the award, which means that Paulding County Magistrate Court is in the top 16 magistrate courts out of the 159 magistrate courts in Georgia with respect to clearance rate. Over the past three years, Paulding County Magistrate Court has exhibited an effective case flow management system, resulting in achieving an excellent clearance rate of greater than 100%.
The Judicial Council’s Administrative Office of the Courts’ congratulatory letter that Chief Magistrate Judge Martin Valbuena received along with the award stated that “Ideally, clearance rates of 100 percent or more indicate a court is keeping up with its incoming caseload.” The letter went on to state that “Over the past three years, your court has exhibited an effective case flow management system that resulted in achieving the clearance rate goal.  Your exceptional performance and best courtroom practices are essential elements to the success of our judicial system.”
Judge Valbuena attributes the award to the hard work that the Paulding County Magistrate Court staff perform each and every workday to keep up with the more than 5000 civil cases that are filed each year. He also thanked the Board of Commissioners for providing the support, both in staff and operating budget, to allow the Court to perform at such a high level of service. This is the first year that the award has been given out, and Judge Valbuena stated that their goal was to continue to perform well enough to obtain the award annually.