What the Houston County Magistrate Court Clerk charges to file an eviction or a small claims case, what the sheriff charges to serve it, and how to ask the court to waive the fees. Cases are heard in the Houston County Magistrate Court.
Filing fee — which in Houston County already covers sheriff service on the first tenant — plus enforcing the order, using only figures we have verified for this county. Attorney fees, if you use one, are on top of this and are not included.
Everything the clerk charges on an eviction or small claims case in Houston County. A dash means the county does not publish that figure — we would rather show you a gap than a guess.
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Eviction filing — possession + rent claim | $109 | Georgia magistrate courts do not charge a different amount for an eviction that also claims unpaid rent, so this is the single dispossessory filing line. Houston County's table, effective July 1, 2024, reads "Dispossessory Warrant $109.00 — Service for additional defendants increases the cost by $50.00 for each defendant." The word "additional" implies the $109.00 already covers serving the first tenant, and the county publishes no filing-only option to check that against. That is our reading rather than the county's statement, so confirm it. |
| Eviction filing — possession only | $109 | Same bundled figure as possession-plus-rent; Georgia magistrate courts do not charge a different amount for an eviction that also claims unpaid rent, so this is the single dispossessory filing line. |
| Appearance fee — eviction defendant | — | Not found. |
| Appearance fee — small claims defendant | — | |
| Jury demand — 12 jurors | — | There is no jury demand fee in Georgia magistrate court, because there are no jury trials there. O.C.G.A. 15-10-41(a) provides that magistrate court cases are tried without a jury. To get a jury you must remove the case to State or Superior Court, which has its own higher fee schedule. |
| Jury demand — 6 jurors | — | Not applicable — Georgia magistrate court does not empanel juries. |
| Jury demand — small claims | — | Not applicable — Georgia magistrate court does not empanel juries. |
| Mediation fee | — | |
| E-filing surcharge | — | Not found. |
| If your claim is | You pay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $15,000 | $109 | Same fee table lists 'Civil Suit (with service) $109.00 -- Service for additional defendants increases the cost by $50.00 for each added defendant' -- identical structure and amount to the dispossessory line. |
Claims above $15,000 are not small claims in Georgia — they are filed as Law cases and cost more.
Somebody has to serve the defendant, and Houston County is one of the counties that charges for it inside the filing fee rather than as a separate line. The figures below are what it costs to serve additional tenants beyond the first, and what it costs to enforce the order once you have won. Across the Georgia counties verified so far, service runs from $0 to $60 per tenant and executing the writ of possession from $10 to $88 — in the counties that publish those separately at all.
$50.00 for each tenant beyond the first. Houston County's $109.00 filing fee appears to already cover serving the first tenant, so this is the increment the court's own table adds per additional defendant — not a standalone price for serving one person, which the county does not publish.
'Per Georgia Code 15-16-21 a fee of $25 is charged for execution of a Writ of Possession,' per the Houston County Sheriff's Office Warrant/Civil Division procedures document. Note this PDF is dated 2015 and may not reflect the most current rate, though no more recent writ-execution figure was found.
Source: Houston County Sheriff civil process fees. Checked July 31, 2026.
Georgia courts will waive court fees, costs, and charges for people below certain income levels, under O.C.G.A. § 9-15-2 and O.C.G.A. § 9-15-2(a). Georgia has no single statewide form: the Magistrate Court Clerk hands you the court's own affidavit when you ask.
| The court waives | If your available income is |
|---|---|
| Full | You file a sworn poverty affidavit stating you are unable to pay costs. If no one contests it, the case proceeds without prepayment of costs. |
Georgia is all-or-nothing. Unlike Illinois, which has four graduated bands, O.C.G.A. § 9-15-2 offers a single full waiver by poverty affidavit — you either qualify or you pay in full. A judge may inquire into the affidavit, and any party may contest it.
Fee waiver information verified July 30, 2026 against the Illinois General Assembly statute text and the Illinois Courts approved-forms library. We report what the statute and the form say. We cannot tell you whether you qualify — that is the court's decision.
Houston County Magistrate Court
PeachCourt
PeachCourt is used by many but not all Georgia magistrate courts, and it is generally not mandatory for a self-represented filer. Where it is used, PeachCourt adds its own service fee on top of the court's filing fee. eFileIL →
We publish the court's and clerk's own contact information and link to their pages. We do not take your information, route you to anyone, or file anything on your behalf. For questions about court procedure — as opposed to what it costs — use the Illinois Courts self-help center.
Georgia behaves like Illinois, not Texas: both halves of the cost vary. Across the 90 counties we have verified the magistrate court's dispossessory filing fee runs from $47 to $120, and what the Sheriff, Marshal or Constable charges to serve the papers and carry out the writ varies on top of that. There is one Georgia-specific trap you will not meet in the other two states: 29 of those counties fold service on the first tenant into the filing fee rather than billing it separately, so adding a published filing fee to a published service fee double-counts. Where we know a county bundles, its page says so and our total does not add service twice.
Georgia has no statewide magistrate court fee schedule. Each county's magistrate court publishes its own, usually as a one-page PDF or a table on the clerk's site, and the great majority of them print no effective date at all.
Statutory backbone: O.C.G.A. § 15-10-80(a); § 15-21A-6(a) — Magistrate court costs; Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority fee. O.C.G.A. § 15-10-80 as amended; § 15-21A-6 indigent defense add-on. § 15-10-80(a) lets each magistrate court set a filing deposit by local court rule "not to exceed $22.00," and § 15-21A-6(a) adds a $15 statewide indigent-defense fee on civil filings. Statute text checked July 30, 2026.
Compiled and verified by David Scott. We re-check every source document monthly and re-read any county whose schedule has changed. If the clerk quotes you something different from what is on this page, tell us and we will fix it. Read the full methodology.