Chatham County Recorder's Court at a Glance
The Recorder's Court of Chatham County sits in the Frank S. Coleman Courthouse, first floor, at 133 Montgomery Street. The court hears City of Savannah and Chatham County traffic citations, local ordinance violations, and preliminary criminal matters. Hon. Harris Odell Jr. serves as Chief Judge. Hon. Joe Huffman and Hon. Claire Cornwell-Williams sit on the bench with the Chief Judge. The clerk's office is in Room 308 of the same building.
Office hours run from 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and cashier windows close at 4:30 p.m. Recorder's Court is part of the broader Chatham County Court System and shows up on the date-based proceedings calendar under the Recorders tab. The court does not handle felonies or divorce; those route through Superior Court instead.
Recorder's Court of Chatham County
Frank S. Coleman Courthouse
133 Montgomery Street, first floor
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 652-7425
recorderscourt@savannahga.gov
Office 8:15 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; Cashier 8:15 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
The court is linked from the main Chatham County Court System site under Recorders.
What Chatham County Recorder's Court Handles
The court works through a steady volume of traffic and ordinance cases each week. Cases come in from Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police, Georgia State Patrol on city roads, and code enforcement units. Some cases stay in Recorder's Court for disposition. Other cases get bound over to State Court when the charge runs to a state misdemeanor that needs trial-level handling.
- Traffic citations — speeding, failure to stop, driving without a valid license, no insurance, and similar tickets issued in Savannah and Chatham County.
- Ordinance violations — city code matters such as noise, nuisance, parking, and code enforcement.
- Preliminary criminal matters — first appearance, bond, and probable cause for some misdemeanor and felony charges before bind-over.
- City of Savannah and Chatham municipal-area citations — many violations within the city limits start here.
Other Chatham municipalities (Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island) run their own municipal courts. State Court takes traffic cases bound over from any of those courts.
Chatham County Recorder's Court Payment Portal
Recorder's Court runs an online payment portal at Municipal Online Payments. The portal handles criminal and traffic citation payments. The lookup fields are controlled by the payment vendor and may change, but the standard search inputs follow a small set of identifiers that defendants will find on their citation.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Case or citation number | Best precision when the number is on the ticket. |
| Last name | Used when the citation number is unknown. |
| Date of birth | Helps narrow common-name results. |
| Driver's license number | Sometimes used as an alternate identifier. |
| Payment amount | Pre-filled from the case balance once the citation is found. |
| Payment method | Credit or debit card through the vendor checkout. |
The portal posts a confirmation page after payment. Save or print that page; the court may need the confirmation for any later question about payment posting.
The portal is the fastest way to dispose of a payable citation before the appearance date.
How to Pay a Chatham County Recorder's Court Citation
The pay or contest decision drives everything that comes next. Many tickets allow a pay-and-forfeit option; others require court appearance. The steps below cover the standard payment workflow. Anyone planning to contest the ticket should appear on the listed date and follow the judge's instructions.
- Pull out the citation and find the case or citation number, the appearance date, and the listed fine amount.
- Open the Municipal Online Payments portal and search by citation number or by last name plus date of birth.
- Confirm the case shown matches the ticket. Check the charge, the court date, and the balance.
- Choose pay-in-full and submit the credit or debit card payment through the vendor checkout.
- Save or print the confirmation page. Keep it until the case status updates with the court.
- For walk-in payment, visit the cashier window in Coleman Room 308 between 8:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. with the citation and a payment method.
- For a contested ticket, plan to appear in court on the listed date. Bring photo ID, the citation, and any supporting documents.
Note: Missing the court date can add a $100 contempt fee and trigger a license suspension report to the state driver licensing agency.
Failure to Appear in Chatham County Recorder's Court
Missing court is the most common reason a simple ticket spirals into something worse. The court can add a $100 contempt fee on top of the original fine. The court can also report a failure to appear that leads to a license suspension by the state licensing agency. A bench warrant can issue when the charge or the conduct supports one.
Defendants who realize they have missed court should contact Recorder's Court right away. A late appearance does not undo a contempt fee, but it can stop the situation from getting worse. The court is reachable at (912) 652-7425 or by email at recorderscourt@savannahga.gov. Anyone with a CDL or commercial driver record should weigh the long-term cost carefully before forfeiting bond on a citation.
The license consequence side is run by the state. The Georgia Department of Driver Services handles license status, points, and suspensions after a court reports a conviction or a failure to appear. Georgia's Super Speeder fee runs $200 on top of the local fine when the speed thresholds are met, and the state can suspend driving privileges if the fee is not paid within 120 days. Reinstatement after that point adds a $50 reinstatement charge on top of the Super Speeder fee. A Recorder's Court ticket can ripple through these state programs even after the local fine is paid.
Check the DDS site after any disposition to confirm how the conviction or status update posts to the driver record.