Cook County Probate Court will receive a grant for over $50,000 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act for COVID-19 pandemic relief.

Release:

Cook County Judge Chase Daughtrey announced the Probate Court will receive $50,170 in grant money as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to assist with expenses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Judicial Council of Georgia announced the awarding of funds to judicial circuits across the State on December 22, 2021. In October 2021, it was announced that up to $110 million of ARPA funds would be allocated to Georgia courts by Gov. Brian P. Kemp. These funds would be used to address backlogs of court cases.

Courts in Georgia operated under a Statewide Judicial Emergency Order from March 2020 through June The order resulted in a backlog of criminal and civil cases across the State, including locally. The order has since expired as of June 30, 2021, but the backlog remains.

Judicial circuits sent in requests in November 2021 to The Judicial Council of Georgia Ad Hoc Committee on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding in order to be considered for grant money to use to respond to the case backlog that was caused as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I would like to thank Judge Clay Tomlinson and Judge Dick Perryman for including our request in their grant application. They worked tirelessly to ensure that our circuit was on the forefront of receiving these funds to assist with our caseload. The probate court will use these grant funds to adequately address our large caseload
of misdemeanor cases, such as Truancy and DUI’s to ensure that cases are processed expeditiously.” said Judge Chase Daughtrey.