Please read these two important notices before proceeding.

I. Court Reporters
Court Reporters record court proceedings for a fee that is prescribed by law.  They also transcribe proceedings upon request.  Anyone requesting a copy of a transcript must pay the per page cost, except where the requesting party is indigent.  Court Reporters are always present in criminal proceedings and habeas corpus hearings. 

A Court Reporter will only be present in Civil and Family Law Cases if a party requests a court reporter to be present to record the proceedings.  The request must be made to the Office of the Court Reporter, 912-652-7168, prior to the day of the hearing. Failure to have a court reporter present to report your case may have an adverse effect on your ability to appeal the ruling of the court.

The party requesting the court reporter is responsible for full payment unless the other party(ies) agree to share the cost.

II. Mediation
By a Standing Order of the Chatham County Superior Court Judges, most Civil and Family Law cases must be mediated before a pretrial conference or final hearing.  Click here to download the Standing Order .

Parties are responsible for complying with this Standing Order before requesting a pretrial conference or final hearing.

For more information visit the Savannah Mediation Center and the Alternative Dispute Resiloution Division (ADR) .

Jury Trials
After mediation has failed or been exempt a request may be made by letter to the judge.  You will receive notice of a pretrial hearing and will be expected to complete and consolidate the Pretrial Order required by the Uniform Superior Court Rules.

Bench Trials
After mediation has failed or been exempt a request may be made by letter to the judge.  You will receive notice of the scheduled bench trial date and time.

Ex parte (one-sided) Communications
Under very rare circumstances, a judge may speak with a party on one side of a case without the other present; for instance in family violence matters and in emergency situations involving child custody.  In all other instances, all parties must be present to address the judge. 

Any letter or other document must be sent to all parties or their lawyer and the letter or document must show that all parties or their lawyers have been sent a copy.  Failure to do so will result either in the mail or document being returned to you and it will result in no action being taken by the judge on your request.

Legal Advice and Assistance
Please do not expect to be able to speak with Sr. Judge Bass on the telephone as that would be considered an ex parte communication.  None of Sr. Judge Bass’ staff will relay messages to her about the merits of a case as that also would be considered improper under the rules of ethics.

Neither the judge nor his secretary, case manager and staff attorney can assist you with any legal matter.
Visit Georgia Legal Services Program at www.glsp.org for more information.

Visits to the Judge’s Office
Due to security procedures, only lawyers or those who have been given an appointment are permitted into a judge’s office.  If you need to deliver documents they may be left at the security desk.  Runners are permitted to bring rule nisis, bond hearing petitions and similar pleadings to the judge’s secretary.