Divorce in Jones County, Georgia: costs, court rules and local help
Summary
Divorces in Jones County are filed with the Jones County Superior Court. The filing fee is $208, and sheriff service is $50.
- A name change filed within 30 days of the final divorce decree costs nothing; after that it's $58. Copies of court records are $1 a page, and a certified copy is $2.50, including the first page.1
- The clerk's office in Gray is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and has a free public computer for looking up cases. Besides the circuit's free packets, the clerk sells write-in forms on its website, such as a $49 contested divorce packet for parents.2
- To ask to file without paying, use the circuit's pauper's affidavit. It must be fully filled out and notarized, with supporting papers such as bills, pay stubs, bank statements or proof of unemployment attached.3
- Jones belongs to the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit with Baldwin, Putnam, Morgan, Greene, Wilkinson, Hancock and Jasper counties, and its Superior Court judges rotate through all eight.4
Where to file
Jones County Clerk of Superior Court
110 South Jefferson Street
Gray, GA 31032
Phone: 478-986-66711
Filing fee
$208 to file. Sheriff service: $50.1
Parenting class
The Ocmulgee Circuit's March 2021 standing order ended the rule that divorcing parents must attend a parenting seminar to get a divorce, and rescinded the earlier orders that required one.3
Mediation
Georgia's official directory of court-connected mediation programs lists none serving Jones County, and the Ocmulgee Circuit's standing order for divorce cases contains no mediation requirement.5
Court forms
The Ocmulgee Circuit posts free packets for contested and uncontested divorces, with and without minor children, plus checklists, a parenting plan, a pauper's packet for filing without paying and a service by publication packet. Go to the forms.6
Standing order
The circuit's standing order binds both spouses in every divorce, and the spouse who files must file it in the case. It bars harassing the other spouse or the children, selling or moving the couple's property outside the ordinary course of business, changing insurance without the other's written consent, taking the children out of Georgia except for ordinary family trips (with written trip details to the other parent), and changing their school or day care unless the separation makes it necessary.3
Also good to know
The circuit's Standard Orders for Parenting and default visitation schedule apply in every domestic case with children unless your own orders say otherwise. The circuit page has the full list, from the 24-hour notice of address changes to the Tuesday and Thursday evening phone calls.3
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit rules
Jones County shares its Superior Court judges and divorce rules with Baldwin, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Morgan, Putnam and Wilkinson counties. The circuit's page has the full standing order, the mediation and parenting seminar rules, and the circuit's other divorce rules.
Free and low-cost help in Jones County
- Crisis Line & Safe House of Central Georgia. A state-certified family violence program in Macon serving Jones, Bibb, Crawford, Monroe and Twiggs counties. The number below is both its crisis line and its office.
Phone: 478-745-92927 - Georgia Legal Services Program. Free civil legal help, including family law, for people with low incomes in 154 of Georgia's 159 counties. Apply online or call the intake line.
Phone: 833-457-75298
If you need an interpreter
If you or a witness needs an interpreter, including sign language, tell the court in writing before the hearing, at least 5 days ahead where you can. The court then works to provide a licensed interpreter at its own expense.9
Jones County Superior Court website
Sources
- ^ Jones County Clerk of Superior Court, civil division: key points, address and phone and filing fees (jonescountyclerkofcourt.org)
- ^ Jones County Clerk of Superior Court, forms (jonescountyclerkofcourt.org)
- ^ Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, standing order with exhibits, March 2021 (PDF): key points, parenting class, standing order and other court rules (eighthdistrict.org, PDF)
- ^ Jones County Clerk of Superior Court, the courts (jonescountyclerkofcourt.org)
- ^ Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution, program directory (godr.org)
- ^ Eighth Judicial Administrative District, Ocmulgee Circuit forms (eighthdistrict.org)
- ^ Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, state-certified family violence agencies (PDF) (cjcc.georgia.gov)
- ^ Georgia Legal Services Program, what we do (glsp.org)
- ^ Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.3, interpreters (gasupreme.us)
Court fees and rules change. Check with the clerk before you file. If something here looks out of date, email help@divorce.city.
Nearby counties
Fees and court rules differ from county to county. Guides for neighboring counties: Baldwin County, Bibb County and Putnam County.
Jones County also borders Jasper, Monroe, Twiggs and Wilkinson counties. Their clerks are listed on the Georgia page.