Access Grady County Bankruptcy Records

Grady County bankruptcy records are maintained by the federal courts, not at the local level in Cairo. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia oversees all bankruptcy filings from this southwest Georgia county. You can search Grady County case records through PACER online or use the toll-free McVCIS phone line for basic information at no charge. The Middle District has staffed offices in Macon and Columbus, and hearings for Grady County cases may be held at the Thomasville location. All docket entries, petitions, and discharge orders from Grady County filings are stored in the federal court system.

Middle District Court Serving Grady County

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia handles all Grady County bankruptcy filings. The main office is in Macon at the Thomas Jefferson Federal Building, 433 Cherry Street, Macon, GA 31201. You can call them at 478-752-3506. The Columbus office at One Arsenal Place, 901 Front Avenue, Columbus, GA 31902 is another staffed location, reachable at 706-649-7837.

Grady County is in the southwest corner of the state. The Middle District holds hearings in Thomasville for cases from this area, though that office is not always staffed. Only Macon and Columbus offices have regular staff. Hon. Austin E. Carter serves as Chief Judge and Kyle George is the Clerk. The Middle District covers 69 Georgia counties, and Grady County is among them.

Searching for Grady County Bankruptcy Cases

Start with PACER for the fastest results. Create a free account. Search by debtor name or case number. PACER shows the full docket, every filed document, and the current status of any Grady County bankruptcy case in the Middle District. The system never closes.

Try the PACER Case Locator if you are unsure which court has the records. It checks all federal courts at once. This matters when someone connected to Grady County may have filed in a different district or state entirely.

McVCIS costs nothing. Call 1-866-222-8029 and select the Middle District of Georgia. The system gives you the debtor name, case number, chapter type, filing date, judge, trustee, and status. It cannot send documents, but it confirms if a case exists. Available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Grady County Bankruptcy Record Costs

PACER runs $0.10 per page. The fee is capped at $3.00 for any single document of 30 pages or fewer. Public terminals at the Macon or Columbus clerk offices let you view Grady County records for free. Printing from those terminals is $0.10 per page.

In-person and mail copy requests are $0.50 per page. Add $12.00 for each certified copy. If you need the clerk to search for a case without a case number, use Form B1320 and pay $34.00. Payments go by money order or certified check payable to "Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court." Cash is fine at the counter in Macon or Columbus.

Note: The $34.00 search fee applies per name searched, not per case found.

Bankruptcy Exemptions in Grady County

Georgia opted out of the federal exemption list. Grady County residents must use the state exemptions defined in O.C.G.A. 44-13-100. The key amounts include a $21,500 homestead exemption, $5,000 for a vehicle, $5,000 total for personal property (no item over $300), $500 for jewelry, and $1,500 for tools of the trade.

The wildcard exemption is $1,200. Unused homestead exemption up to $10,000 can be stacked on top of the wildcard. Social Security, workers compensation, unemployment, veterans benefits, and most retirement accounts are fully exempt for Grady County filers. These amounts protect assets from being seized by a bankruptcy trustee to pay creditors.

Types of Grady County Bankruptcy Cases

Chapter 7 liquidation is the most filed type in Grady County. Non-exempt property gets sold to pay debts, and the rest are discharged. The case closes in about three to four months. Chapter 13 sets up a repayment plan lasting three to five years. The debtor keeps their property and makes payments to a trustee who distributes the money to creditors. This option fits people with steady income.

Chapter 12 is for family farmers and fishermen. Grady County has a strong agricultural presence, so some local filers may use this chapter. Chapter 11 is business reorganization and is less typical for individual filers. All types are filed in the Middle District and show up in PACER searches.

Grady County Clerk and State Records

The Grady County Clerk of Superior Court in Cairo deals with state court records only. Civil lawsuits, criminal cases, deeds, liens, and other state filings are stored there. Bankruptcy records are not. The federal court keeps those separately. But state records from Grady County can show up in a bankruptcy proceeding. A lien on property or a judgment in a civil case might be listed in the debtor's bankruptcy schedules.

The Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority lets you search state-level records from Grady County and every other Georgia county online. Use it for property records and liens. For the bankruptcy filing, go through the federal system.

This is the Middle District court website where Grady County bankruptcy filings are processed and stored.

Archived Grady County Cases

Closed bankruptcy cases from Grady County eventually transfer to the National Archives and Records Administration. If PACER has no results, the case may be at NARA. Call the Macon clerk at 478-752-3506 to check. They can provide the case number, accession number, location number, and box number you need for a NARA request. Plan on several weeks for delivery.

Filing Rules for Grady County Residents

State exemptions require 730 days of Georgia residency before your filing date. Grady County residents who moved from another state less than two years ago may have to use that state's exemptions. The re-filing gaps are eight years between Chapter 7 filings, four years from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13, and two years between Chapter 13 filings. These federal rules apply uniformly across the Middle District.

Nearby Counties

Grady County borders several southwest Georgia counties in the Middle District. Bankruptcy records from these areas are all searched through the same federal court system.