[SirClip]

Hi all,

I'm new to Georgia. I went to the Dekalb county site and did all the on line forms so I could schedule an appointment. I go to schedule an appointment and for a new license it is 4 months just to get in to complete the application. Renewals and wedding licenses are few days at most. Their reason was high volume due to corona.

Seems like Dekalb has a long history of being as difficult as possible for issuing licenses. Is there any thing I can do to get in quicker or am I SOL?

Thanks.

 

[Craftsman]

Watch the timeliness. Call for progress information. There is no "pandemic exception" to the statutory timelines. If they do not send out your license on time, contact JRM on this forum for advice on your legal options.

 

[UtiPossidetis]

Watch the timeliness. Call for progress information. There is no "pandemic exception" to the statutory timelines. If they do not send out your license on time, contact JRM on this forum for advice on your legal options.

It's not a matter of getting the license mailed to him in the timelines, its the fact that he can't get to turn in his paperwork or pay his fees for 120+ days.

Question to the legal eagles: when does that time clock start for compliance with the law for the Probate judges? When you intend to apply but are barred by a response like the one listed here or when you actually pay your fees? Is there a way to make a case to a Superior Court that the Probate Court is failing in its duty by not allowing people timely access to paying their fees?

 

[Adam5]

The countdown starts at the time of application.

 

[Siege]

Lots of people on NextDoor here in the Stone Mountain area complaining about it being impossible to get an appointment to apply for a GWCL, or when they can get one, they're many months out.

Are they giving similar delays to everyone for every service the probate court provides? Would I need to wait ~4 months for a marriage license appointment? Or are they using the pandemic as an excuse to not do what GCO had to fight them over in court?

It's one thing if the delays are universal across services... it's still crap, and maybe there's a legal argument to be made regardless, given we have specific laws on the subject of issuance and chilling the exercise of a right (whereas there is no right to marriage enumerated in the Constitution, nor laws on the state's books mandating a specific maximum timeline for the issue of marriage licenses that I am aware of), but if it's at least consistent then it's hard to make a case for specific intent to deny licenses or make obtaining one unreasonably difficult.

However if they can be shown to be making GWCL applications lengthier and more difficult than other services the probate court provides, I'd think there was a genuine legal case in the offing.