Divorce in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit: court rules for Barrow and Jackson counties

County pages

Fees, clerks' offices and local help differ by county:

• Barrow County: filing fee $213, sheriff service $50 per service
• Jackson County: filing fee $216, sheriff service $50 per service

Mediation

In divorces filed since September 1, 2025, you and your spouse can't have a contested final hearing until you've tried mediation or a judge-hosted settlement conference. The circuit's standing order sets the timing:

• Within 10 days after discovery closes, confer and each propose dates.
• Attend mediation within 60 days after discovery closes. You can go earlier if you both agree.
• Choose a mediator from the circuit's approved list or any mediator registered with the state. If you can't agree, the court assigns one.

If you can't afford it, the circuit's ADR office in Jefferson can help pay for up to two hours. The judge can waive mediation on a written motion.¹

Scheduling mediation

The circuit's ADR office in Jefferson runs the scheduling. Its procedures add:

• Every family case is screened for safety before mediation, using the circuit's screening form.
• Once a date is set, the plaintiff emails the Notice of Mediation to the ADR office and e-files it within 24 hours.
• Each spouse brings a completed financial affidavit.
• The mediator sets the fee, and you split it equally unless you agree otherwise. It's due at the session.
• To ask for financial help, send the request form to the ADR office at least 10 business days before mediation.
• Cancelling with less than 48 hours' notice can cost up to two hours of the mediator's fee, and a spouse who doesn't show up pays the whole cancellation fee.⁵

Parenting seminar

If you have children under 18, both parents must complete the four-hour Seminar for Divorcing Parents, run by Family Counseling Services of Athens. The fee is $35, paid in cash. You schedule your session through the clerk, and sessions are held in Jefferson. The circuit's two orders on the seminar set different deadlines:

• The seminar order: within 60 days after your spouse is served, unless the judge sets another time.
• The domestic relations standing order: before the final hearing or within 90 days after service, whichever comes first.

Finishing within 60 days, and before any final hearing, meets both. You can ask the judge in writing to let you take an approved online course instead, for example if you live more than 50 miles away or need the class in another language. You can also ask in writing to waive or reduce the fee, at least 3 days before your session.²

Standing order

Standing Order 2025-11 applies to every divorce and other family case filed in the circuit on or after September 1, 2025. If you file, you attach a copy to the papers served on your spouse. Neither of you may:

• Take the children out of Georgia for more than eight days in total without a written agreement or the court's permission, except in an emergency. When they're away overnight, the other parent is entitled to know where they are.
• Move the children to a different school without the court's permission.
• Harass, threaten or mistreat the other spouse or the children.
• Sell, borrow against, damage or move away any property or pets either of you has an interest in without a written agreement. Ordinary expenses, such as household bills, the mortgage and lawyers' fees, are allowed.
• Cut off the other spouse's cell phone or utilities, cancel any insurance that covers either of you, the children or your property, or interfere with the other's mail.

If you represent yourself and use forms from someone else, such as a lawyer's office, a government website or an AI tool, the order says you must disclose the source in writing.¹

Filing without a lawyer

The circuit's Superior Court website posts free self-help forms, including separate divorce packets for contested and uncontested cases, with or without children, a pauper's affidavit and a motion to waive mediation.⁶

Under a September 2026 order, anyone who uses AI to draft or help draft a filing, including people without a lawyer, must name the tool at the end of the document, before the signature, and certify that every citation was checked. A filing that doesn't comply can be struck, and the court can impose sanctions or fines.³

Related guides

• Mediation or court in Georgia
• Georgia divorce costs by county