Actions shall be entered by the clerk in the proper docket immediately or within a reasonable period after being received in the clerk’s office.
Rule 36.2.Time of Docketing
Rule 36. FILING AND PROCESSING · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceRequires the clerk to enter every action into the proper docket immediately, or within a reasonable time after it is received in the clerk’s office, so the court’s records stay current and litigants and the public can rely on the docket to reflect what has been filed.
Full Text of Rule 36.2
Plain-English Summary
Rule 36.2 is a short but important housekeeping rule: once a matter reaches the clerk’s office, it has to show up in the docket promptly. The rule allows “immediately or within a reasonable period,” which gives the clerk practical room to handle a bulk of filings without literally recording each one the instant it arrives, but it does not allow indefinite delay.
The docket is the court’s public index of what has been filed and when. Judges, clerks, attorneys, and the public all rely on it to track deadlines, confirm that a document was received, and reconstruct the history of a case. If entries lag, parties can lose track of filing dates that matter for calculating response deadlines or establishing when a case was commenced.
Because the rule ties promptness to “the proper docket,” it also assumes the clerk has sorted the filing into the correct category — civil, criminal, or adoption — before recording it, connecting this rule to the broader filing and identification scheme the rest of Rule 36 sets up.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly must the clerk enter a filed action into the docket?
The clerk must docket the action immediately or within a reasonable period after it is received in the clerk’s office.
Does Rule 36.2 set an exact deadline, like 24 or 48 hours, for docketing?
No. The rule uses the flexible standard of “immediately or within a reasonable period,” rather than a fixed number of hours or days.
Who is responsible for entering actions into the docket?
The clerk is responsible for entering actions in the proper docket under Rule 36.2.
What triggers the clerk’s duty to docket an action?
The duty arises once the action is received in the clerk’s office.
Does Rule 36.2 apply only to civil matters?
The rule refers broadly to “actions” entered in “the proper docket,” without limiting itself to one case type, consistent with Rule 36’s coverage of civil, criminal, and adoption filings.
Source & verification. Rule text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Uniform Superior Court Rules, published by the
Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
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