Every fee read off the clerk's own schedule and dated Updated July 2026

Ware County Court Filing Fees

What the Ware 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 Ware County Magistrate Court.

Verified against the clerk's fee schedule Checked July 31, 2026 Sources checked monthly

The numbers you came for

Checked July 31, 2026 against the Ware County Magistrate Court Clerk fee schedule
Eviction — possession + rent
$76
Filing fee at the clerk
Eviction — possession only
$76
No money judgment sought
Small claims — up to $15,000
$101
Filing fee at the clerk
Sheriff service, each extra tenant
$22
First tenant already covered by the filing fee
Realistic cost to start an eviction here At least $76

This is a floor, not a total. It adds up only the components this county actually publishes — the missing pieces below will push it higher. Attorney fees, if you use one, are on top of this and are not included.

Full fee breakdown

Everything the clerk charges on an eviction or small claims case in Ware County. A dash means the county does not publish that figure — we would rather show you a gap than a guess.

FeeAmountNotes
Eviction filing — possession + rent claim $76 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. Ware County's Magistrate Court Cost List, hosted on the county's newer website after its old warecounty.com site retired its own fee page, prices 'Dispossessory (1 Person)' at $76.00 and 'Dispossessory (2 Persons)' at $98.00 -- a flat $22.00 step per additional defendant with no separate first-defendant service line, which reads as the county's usual bundled structure even though the document never uses the word 'includes.' The same $22.00 step also appears on the Civil Claim line, so it is not a dispossessory-specific figure the way the $25.00 rate is in many neighboring counties.
Eviction filing — possession only $76 Same 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. Same bundling caveat applies.
Appearance fee — eviction defendant Not found on the pages checked.
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 on the pages checked.

Small claims filing fee by claim size

If your claim isYou payNotes
$0 – $15,000 $101 'Civil Claim (1 Person) $101.00' and 'Civil Claim (2 Persons) $123.00' on the same cost list -- the same $22.00 per-additional-person step used for dispossessories, rather than a separate, higher general-civil rate.

Claims above $15,000 are not small claims in Georgia — they are filed as Law cases and cost more.

What service actually costs

Somebody has to serve the defendant, and Ware 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.

Serving each additional tenant
$22

Ware County's Magistrate Court cost list does not separately label this as a Sheriff fee, but $22.00 is the published step between 'Dispossessory (1 Person)' and 'Dispossessory (2 Persons),' used here as the per-additional-defendant service figure. Unlike most other Georgia counties in this collection, Ware County uses the same $22.00 step for both dispossessories and ordinary civil claims rather than a lower, dispossessory-specific rate.

Enforcing the eviction order
Varies

No separate writ of possession execution fee was found on the pages checked.

Source: Ware County Sheriff civil process fees. Checked July 31, 2026.

If you cannot afford the filing fee

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 waivesIf your available income is
FullYou 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.

Where and how to file in Ware County

The court

Ware County Magistrate Court

The clerk

Ware County Magistrate Court Clerk

Clerk's website →

E-filing

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.

Why Ware County charges what it charges

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.

Notes on this county

Common questions

How much does it cost to file an eviction in Ware County, Georgia?
Filing an eviction with a rent claim in Ware County costs $76 at the Magistrate Court Clerk's window, or $76 if you are asking only for possession and not for unpaid rent. That figure already includes sheriff service on the first defendant — do not add a service fee on top of it for one tenant. Serving additional tenants, and later enforcing the eviction order, are billed separately. Verified July 31, 2026.
What is the small claims filing fee in Ware County?
In Ware County, claims up to $15,000 cost $101. Georgia magistrate courts hear civil claims up to $15,000 (O.C.G.A. § 15-10-2). Above that the case belongs in State or Superior Court.
Which court fees are the same in every Georgia county?
Jury demand fee: there is none. 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. A defendant who wants one must remove the case to State or Superior Court, where a different and higher fee schedule applies.

Indigent defense fee: $15. A $15.00 fee added to civil filings under O.C.G.A. § 15-21A-6(a). In practice counties appear to fold it into the advertised filing fee rather than billing it separately, so do not add it a second time on top of the figure on a county page.

Writ of fieri facias (fi. fa.): $4. $4.00 to issue a fi. fa. — the writ that turns a money judgment into something you can collect on. Separate from the writ of possession that actually removes a tenant.
What does the Sheriff charge to serve papers in Ware County?
The Ware County Sheriff charges about $22 per defendant for basic service. Ware County's Magistrate Court cost list does not separately label this as a Sheriff fee, but $22.00 is the published step between 'Dispossessory (1 Person)' and 'Dispossessory (2 Persons),' used here as the per-additional-defendant service figure. Unlike most other Georgia counties in this collection, Ware County uses the same $22.00 step for both dispossessories and ordinary civil claims rather than a lower, dispossessory-specific rate.. No separate writ of possession execution fee was found on the pages checked. Sheriff fees are set separately from the court's filing fees and vary far more from county to county. 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.
Can I get the filing fee waived in Ware County?
Yes. Georgia has no single statewide form. You file a pauper's affidavit (affidavit of indigence) under O.C.G.A. § 9-15-2, and the clerk supplies the court's own version of it on request. 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.
Why do court filing fees differ between Georgia counties?
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.

Sources for this page

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.

Nearby counties

Founder & Editor, County Court Fees

David Scott compiles court filing fees directly from clerk, constable and sheriff fee schedules, records the source document and the date each figure was checked, and re-verifies every county on a fixed schedule. See how the data is sourced, or read the editorial policy.

Not legal advice. This page reports published fee amounts. It cannot tell you whether to file or what to do in your situation — for that, talk to a lawyer or your local legal aid office.