Albany Municipal Court anticipates move out of Dougherty County Judicial Building
By Alan Mauldin
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ALBANY — Albany Municipal Court has been located in the county courthouse building as long as it has been in existence. That will change soon as that space has been earmarked for a fourth Dougherty County Superior Court Judge.
The city is not sure how soon it will have to vacate the Dougherty County Judicial Building, but it is making plans.
“We don’t have a for-sure move-out date,” Sharri Twyman, director of municipal court administration, said Tuesday. “We are still kind of finalizing plans on the move.”
The city held court sessions in the Albany Civic Center in May and June of 2021 after a faulty hose connected to a coffee maker caused significant flooding in the courthouse building. That is one possibility as a temporary site for Municipal Court.
“It will be a temporary location,” Twyman said. “The city commissioners and the mayor are actually looking at a temporary or permanent location.
“Obviously, we had it before at the Civic Center. There’s plenty of parking there, but it hasn’t been finalized.”
Albany attorney Joe Dent was sworn in as the fourth Superior Court judge for the Dougherty Judicial Circuit on Jan. 11 after Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him to the position in December.
That came after the Judicial Council of Georgia in 2022 rated the Dougherty County Circuit as the most in need of an additional judge’s position.
The space currently occupied by Municipal Court has office space for 10 employees, including Chief Judge Willie E. Lockette. The courtroom will be renovated and will include a courtroom for Dent.
An ideal location for court is one that’s accessible to residents all of the city, Twyman said.
“It would be ideal for it to be downtown, but remember that we need to be accessible to public transit as well,” she said.
Moving into a new location will not be a huge endeavor, the director said, at least not for the staff.
“I think the biggest point of contention will be the public, where they go,” Twyman said. “Getting the public used to going to a different place when the city has been here so many years, I think that’s going to be the speed bump.
“My husband, who is from Dougherty County, remembers it being here as a kid, and he is 50 years old. It’s my understanding it’s always been in the courthouse.”
Court sessions are held in the courtroom each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as well as the second and fourth Monday of each month.
Once a new Municipal Court location is approved, the city’s public information office will notify media to get the word out, Twyman said. Signage also is likely to be posted outside the courthouse building and on the door at the current offices.
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