A $75 million project to clear an unprecedented number of Fulton County court cases that were stalled during the pandemic cleared 93 percent of the 148,209 open and active cases in the system.
Project ORCA addressed the challenge of reducing the backlog from before the pandemic and grew when courtrooms were closed due to COVID-19. Through hiring and reopening “mothballed” courtrooms, using other spaces, Zoom court hearings, and adding productivity enhancement initiatives, the court system cut the caseload.
“It’s a terrific template, I think, for engaging our justice partners, meeting specific objectives, investment, and clear results tracking,” County Manager Richard Anderson told the Fulton County Board of Commissioners during its Jan. 29 meeting.
He said the project was recognized nationally and within the state.
Steve Nawrocki, assistant chief strategy officer for the county, said the county had reached its final program milestone with Project ORCA’s completion. The project involved hiring extra staff.
His report said hires were made in probate, superior, state, and magistrate courts, public defender’s offices, district attorney’s office, marshal, sheriff, solicitor general, juvenile and Court Services-Civil Docket Division. Judges, clerks, attorneys, and other leaders from those offices were partners in Project ORCA.
“Of the 523 hired over the past three years, more than half have transferred to full-time positions,” Nawrocki said.
The remaining 237 people separated from the county, he said.
On the project’s starting date in December 2021, the Fulton County Court System’s various offices had the following outstanding and active cases:
- Solicitor General – 56,462
- Magistrate Court – 39,435
- State Court – 20,124
- District Attorney – 16,300
- Superior Court – 15,888
By the end of December 2024, the Solicitor General’s office was down to 599 cases. Magistrate Court cases were reduced to 2,283, and State Court cases dropped to 3,850. Superior Court cases had dropped to 2,918. The District Attorney’s office had cleared all backlogged cases.
“Thank you to all of our judges, along with their administrative staff and clerks, Madam Clerk [Ché] Alexander, who played a key role in establishing Project ORCA and the early leadership of the program, to our attorneys and the public defender’s office, the solicitor and the DAs office, and, of course, our law enforcement and the sheriff’s office and the marshals department,” Nawrocki said.
A Justice System Scorecard developed for the project will continue to be used, Nawrocki said. It reflected improvements in clearance rate for cases and other factors such as the average length of stay in Fulton County Jail.
In May 2023, the average length of stay for a person incarcerated was 71 days. That has been cut to 48 days as shown in December 2024 data. The percentage of the jail population unindicted without other charges has been cut by slightly more than half, down to 16 percent. The clearance rate for felony cases was 72 percent in May 2023 and reached 88 percent last month.
Nawrocki said some backsliding has been noted, with felony case dispositions within 180 days and 365 days decreasing from the previous month.