Award comes in today for Clearance Rate Excellence in 2021

Polk County Superior Court Clerk Stacie Baines wasn’t expecting a certificate to arrive in the mail on January 26, but the postman brought good news for her and the office staff who work diligently to keep courtrooms running smoothly and ensure cases are cleared.

During a difficult year in 2021 trying to re-establish court proceedings in a safe manner, the Polk County Superior Court Clerk’s Office kept their reporting accurate and up-to-date throughout the year, and was recognized by the Standing Committee on Judicial Workload Assessment for the reporting excellence sent in for approval by the state in early 2022.

Baines said that she wasn’t expecting the award, but was excited nonetheless that the staff is recognized for their hard work.

“We all work every day to make sure our numbers are accurate,” Baines said. “I regularly sit down with staff and we make sure to check and recheck all the time. I am so glad that have a great group of employees that take pride in their jobs and know what they are doing is important.”

The Clerk’s Office just submitted their numbers for the 2022 calendar year to the state, and Baines is sure that after several checks of the figures, the case numbers are set in stone.

Polk County’s Superior Court Clerk’s office is just one of two in the circuit, with the Tallapoosa Circuit sharing judges with Haralson County. Baines only oversees the cases in Polk County, while counterparts in Haralson are responsible for their caseload across the county line.

The award from the Standing Committee on Judicial Workload Assessment is out of the Judicial Count of Georgia’s Administrative Office of the Courts.

The committee is responsible for deciding how data is assessed via trial case counts on an annual basis from Superior Court Clerk’s Offices around the state. This data generated by staff then arms the committee with information needed to determine where additional judicial personnel are needed around the state.