Access Tift County Clerk Records

Tift County Clerk of Court

Tift County's Clerk of Court page identifies Clay Pate as Clerk of Court and lists the office as the local service point for Superior and State Court records.

The county page matters because it ties the Tift County Clerk of Court to the current office address, phone, fax, traffic line, hours, and core duties rather than to a generic courthouse listing.

Clay Pate's office is the court-record custodian for Tift County Superior Court and Tift County State Court filings. Georgia does not use a separate district clerk for these local case files. The research also separates the court clerk from the county-administration County Clerk, whose Board of Commissioners role is different from keeping court case records. That distinction is important when a user needs a civil complaint, felony indictment, divorce decree, State Court misdemeanor file, or traffic disposition.

The Tift County Clerk of Court office is listed at 237 E. 2nd Street, Tifton, GA 31794, with mailing address P.O. Box 354, Tifton, GA 31793. The main phone is 229-386-7810, fax is 229-386-7813, and hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Traffic fine callers use the same main number and press 1. The State Court FAQ also lists a record-copy phone at 229-386-7937 for State Court records.

Tift County Clerk Record Duties

The Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority profile confirms Clay Pate's Tift County Clerk of Court listing and names Superior and State as the courts managed by the office.

The GSCCCA profile adds detail beyond the county page, including civil records, criminal records, traffic citations, real estate and personal property records, trade names, military discharge records, Board of Equalization work, jury management, passports, and notary commissions.

The county page says the Clerk of Court files and records real estate deeds, files civil and criminal proceedings in Superior and State Court, accepts passport applications, handles notary public applications, and receives traffic fine payments. The internal contact groups from GSCCCA make the office easier to navigate: Superior Criminal lists Frances Davis, Tabitha Garrick, and Shelby Clements; Superior and State Civil lists Vanessa Patterson and Jordan Chambers; State Court Criminal and Traffic lists Whitney Van Brackle, Gloria Rodriguez, and LauraLee Jones; Real Estate lists Stephanie Hill and Triteasha Jones.

For case records, the main split is by court and case type. Superior Court files include felonies, divorce, equity, title-to-land matters, and broad civil cases. State Court files include misdemeanors, traffic outside city limits, civil money-damage cases, and cases that come up from Magistrate Court by appeal or jury demand. The same Clerk of Court office is the public-facing records point for both courts.

• Superior criminal files, including felony case filings and dispositions.
• Superior and State civil files, including complaints, answers, judgments, and appeals.
• State Court criminal and traffic matters, including payment and record-copy routing.
• Real estate, trade name, personal property, and military discharge recording services.
• Jury management, notary commissions, passports, and Board of Equalization support.

Tift County Traffic Fine Payments

The Clerk of Court also handles State Court traffic payment routing. Tift County's traffic fine page says online and phone payments are available, but both may carry a vendor convenience fee. Phone payments go through 1-866-339-0646, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The county page also gives the local traffic line as 229-386-7810, press 1.

Mail payments for State Court traffic matters must be money order or certified bank cashier's check only, payable to Clerk of State Court. The research did not find approval for personal or business checks. Mail goes to Clerk of State Court, P.O. Box 354, Tifton, GA 31793-0354. Overnight delivery goes to Clerk of State Court, 237 E. 2nd St., Tifton, GA 31794. In-person payment may be made by exact cash, money order, or certified bank cashier's check.

Traffic matters inside Tifton city limits may instead belong to City of Tifton Municipal Court, so the citation source and location matter before a payment or copy request is sent to the Clerk of Court.

Tift County Open Records Routes

The Tift County open-records page states that requests may be made verbally or in writing and that responses are made under O.C.G.A. 50-18-70.

The open-records page is useful for county department records and administrative records, but Tift County court users should still route court case copies to the custodian court office first.

The direct court-record route is usually the Clerk of Court for Superior and State Court case files, Magistrate Court for Magistrate files, Probate Court for probate and marriage files, Juvenile Court for restricted juvenile matters, and Municipal Court for city citations. The county open-records process remains important for non-case county records, sheriff records when releasable, and requests where the correct department is not yet clear. Tift County says the requester is responsible for fees tied to fulfilling the request and that an estimated cost of preparation will be provided.

The official-linked Revize open-records form is the all-department online form listed for Tift County requests.

The form image supports the practical field list below, which should be used for county open-records requests rather than as a substitute for asking the Clerk of Court for certified court copies.

Tift County Court Records vs Open Records

The Tift County document center lists the county open-records request form among public county forms.

The document center helps locate the countywide form, but the research keeps court case records and county administration records in separate lanes.

The separate County Clerk is not the Tift County court-record clerk. The County Clerk maintains the permanent history of Board of Commissioners actions, attends Board meetings, keeps proceedings, prepares agendas, publishes and attests resolutions and ordinances, and supports Open Meetings and Open Records Act compliance for county administration. Administrative county open-records requests may be routed to the County Clerk, Tift County Board of Commissioners, P.O. Box 826, Tifton, GA 31793, Attn: County Clerk, or by calling 229-386-7850.

For sheriff records, the county open-records page names David Haire, Public Information Officer, Tift County Sheriff's Office, P.O. Box 46, Tifton, GA 31793, phone 229-388-6031, email david.haire@tiftcounty.org. The sheriff public information page also lists Captain Chad Davis as an alternate Open Records Officer. Those sheriff routes do not replace the Clerk of Court route for Superior and State Court case filings.

Tift County Certified Court Copies

A certified copy is a clerk-issued copy that carries the office certification needed for many official uses. Tift County research did not locate a published Superior or State Court certified-copy fee schedule, so the copy request should start with enough information for staff to identify the file and quote the current cost. The Clerk main number is 229-386-7810. The State Court FAQ lists 229-386-7937 for State Court records and copies.

1. Identify the court first. Superior Court covers felonies, divorces, major civil matters, equity, and title-to-land cases. State Court covers misdemeanors, traffic, civil money-damage cases, and some appeals.
2. Gather the case number if known. If the case number is not known, prepare full party names, approximate filing date, case type, and the document needed.
3. Call or visit the Clerk of Court at 237 E. 2nd Street to confirm whether the record is available, restricted, archived, or visible only through a provider account.
4. Ask for the current plain-copy, certification, mailing, and search fees before sending payment because the reviewed official pages did not publish the amounts.
5. Request the copy in the format needed for the use: plain copy for reference, certified copy for official filing or proof, or a disposition copy for many criminal and traffic needs.

Note: Fee gaps are preserved because the official sources reviewed did not publish a local certified-copy schedule for Superior or State Court files.

Tift County Clerk Access Laws

O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 provides the public-record presumption that Tift County cites on its open-records page.

For Clerk of Court users, this law supports access to public records while still leaving room for court rules, confidentiality statutes, redactions, and sealed-file orders.

O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 lists exemptions and categories of information that may be withheld or redacted.

The exemption source explains why a file can be public in part, redacted in part, or unavailable without a court order even when the Clerk of Court is the correct custodian.

Juvenile records, sealed or restricted criminal history, protected victim data, Social Security numbers, financial account data, medical details, and some military discharge information may require special handling. Georgia also uses the term record restriction for many criminal-history access limits under O.C.G.A. 35-3-37. The practical result for Tift County is simple: ask the Clerk of Court for court filings, use the county or sheriff open-records route for non-case records, and expect staff to separate public copy work from restricted-file questions.