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(Hank Tatum/The Oglethorpe Echo) -
Megan Coile, the chief magistrate judge, said courts are time sensitive and have specific guidelines that can’t be bent “at any point in time.” (Lilly Kersh/The Oglethorpe Echo) -
Kayla Grier, the probate judge, said she hopes traffic court and other areas of responsibility continue to run “smoothly” in her next term. (Submitted Photo) -
Kelli Paradise Smith, the clerk of superior court, has digitized land records, and is in the process of scanning criminal and civil cases. (Submitted photo)
All three judicial positions in Oglethorpe County on the ballot this year will be retained by the incumbent.
Megan Coile, the chief magistrate judge since 2021, Kayla Grier, the probate judge since 2017, and Kelli Paradise Smith, the clerk of superior court since 2009, are running unopposed for the offices they hold.
The Oglethorpe Echo spoke with each about their positions, tenures and plans as public officials in Oglethorpe County.
Comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What are the key duties of your office?
Coile: Our office handles signing all the arrest warrants for any law enforcement officer in the county — with the exception of a few that the law requires superior court judges to do — bond hearings, any civil case up to $15,000 and evictions.
Grier: Probate court handles estates of deceased people, we do adult and minor guardianship, we handle all misdemeanor traffic citations, we issue firearm licenses and marriage licenses, and we're the vital records custodian of the county, so we issue birth and death certificates.
Paradise Smith: We have three broad areas in this office; there is an administrative division, a judicial division and a real and personal property division. Included in the administrative division, I have to account for all the funds paid into the registries of the court. In the judicial section, I file, store and receive criminal, civil and juvenile court records. On the real estate side, I receive, index, maintain and record deeds, plats, liens and UCC financing statements.
Q: As it pertains to your office, what is the biggest issue facing Oglethorpe County residents?
Coile: Lack of resources. We’re rural. We have a lot of places that can help people, but they get exhausted pretty quickly because we don’t have a lot of that. We don’t have a lot of open places for people to work. We don’t have a lot of transportation. We have to really rely on other counties.
Grier: There are limited resources that I’m aware of for mental health treatment, especially in our county. In our office, we handle two-party affidavits, which is when two people come in and they have to make sworn statements as to the actions that they’ve witnessed within the past 48 hours for someone. Usually, they’re an immediate threat to themselves or to someone else, and usually these are people that are in a mental health crisis.
Paradise Smith: I think citizens are worried about having their property swiped from them. There’s a lot of talk out there — and I have a lot of questions from the public — about, “is my property still in my name?” We try very hard to make sure that they know that something is about to happen.
Q: What is something about your position that you wish people understood better?
Coile: No court system can work like the TV acts like it does. Everything is time sensitive. Everything has specific guidelines and rules that you have to abide by, and you can’t bend those rules at any point in time. That’s just breaking the law again, and we can’t do that.
Grier: As a judge, I’m not allowed to give legal advice. I can explain the different processes, but I cannot advise people. That includes my personal life.
Paradise Smith: I would like for people to just realize what it takes to maintain this office, that it is basically a business arm between the county governing business and the judicial. There's so many arms of this office that I wish they could see what’s being done here to preserve the records.
Q: What accomplishment from your tenure are you most proud of?
Coile: When I originally took over the office, everything was still handwritten. All of the paperwork, all of the docket books, everything was filed by hand. But in my first year, I was able to get a case management system purchased, and now we have all of our stuff online, so it’s accessible from anywhere.
Grier: We have started scanning all of our documents. When I first took office, we had paper minute books where we would record all of our petitions, everything that’s public record, and have it in our vault. We have now started scanning those, and they’re accessible online.
Paradise Smith: I was able to transform the office. I have been able to digitize not only all of our land records, but we’re also in the process of scanning criminal and civil cases as far back as we can.
Q: What is your top priority for your next term?
Coile: To continue to grow the office. I worked for the last three years with the commissioner’s office and the sheriff’s office to get some new ordinances put in place to keep more funds in the county on certain offenses. Bring in more funds to be able to do more in the county.
Grier: I think things are going well. We have a system in traffic court to help it run more smoothly; I want to continue that and just continue to run the office smoothly.
Paradise Smith: My top priority is to continue to provide the service that I have to the constituents of the county. Most of the goals that I set for myself in this office as the clerk are to make it easier in the future when I decide to step down or when someone else runs.