duistatelaws.com Key takeaways
- The State Court of Chatham County handles misdemeanors, including traffic, bound over from any Chatham County municipality.
- In Chatham County the District Attorney decides whether to issue the accusation — not a Solicitor-General, as in Fulton County.
- The court states that the accusation must be issued within two years of the offense date, and no court date is set until it is.
- The State Court’s DUI Court, running since May 2003: the sentencing judge may sentence people with two DUIs in five years or three in a lifetime into it.
- If a DUI is dismissed or reduced, the clerk says you must get the administrative suspension removed with DDS.
- 30 days and a $150 filing fee to request the license hearing.
from the date you were served with the notice to demand a hearing from Georgia Department of Driver Services. The request goes to DDS, not to the court, and no judge in Chatham County will make it for you. O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1(g)(1).
Georgia charges DUI under O.C.G.A. section 40-6-391, and the penalty ladder, the ten-year window and the rule that a DUI conviction cannot be restricted are on the Georgia DUI law page.
What is specific to Savannah is the route the case takes. It does not begin in the court that decides it. The State Court of Chatham County describes cases bound over from a court of inquiry — the Recorder’s Court or a municipal court — and then reviewed by the District Attorney before any court date is set. Anyone who has read the Atlanta page, where a Solicitor-General files the misdemeanor DUI in State Court, will find that the Chatham version differs in who brings the case.
The same diagram as a table
| Step | Criminal case — decided by a court | License case — decided by a state agency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrest and booking, hour 0 | Notice of suspension served, day 0 |
| 2 | Charge filed by the prosecutor | Deadline to demand a hearing: 7 to 30 days in the eight states on this site that use an agency hearing |
| 3 | First court setting, on a date the court picks | Hearing held if the request was filed — whether the suspension waits for the ruling is set by each state's statute |
| 4 | One or more pretrial settings | Suspension takes effect automatically with no hearing |
| 5 | Trial, plea or dismissal | — |
| Clock | Weeks to months. No filing deadline runs against the driver. | Counted in days from the notice, and fixed by statute. |
Where a Savannah DUI is heard
The State Court of Chatham County sits on the first floor of the Eugene H. Gadsden Courthouse, 400 W. Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 127. It describes its criminal jurisdiction as disposing of misdemeanor offenses, including traffic, bound over from any Chatham County municipality — cases from Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Savannah, Thunderbolt and Tybee Island — along with cases filed by the District Attorney.
State Court of Chatham County
- Hears
- Misdemeanors, including traffic, bound over from any Chatham County municipality
- Building
- Eugene H. Gadsden Courthouse, 1st floor
- Address
- 400 W. Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 127, Savannah, GA 31401
- Detail
- The court lists cases brought from Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Savannah, Thunderbolt and Tybee Island, and cases filed by the District Attorney
- Phone
- 912-652-7224, option 2 (Criminal Division)
- Why it matters
- The DUI Court program runs under this court’s jurisdiction.
The court states that after a case is bound over it may take one to six weeks for the State Court to receive the documents from the court of inquiry. The charges are then reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office, which decides whether to issue an accusation and must do so within two years of the offense date. A court date is not scheduled until the accusation is issued.
Once the District Attorney files the accusation, the case is set for arraignment and the defendant is notified by subpoena, mailed to the address on the documents from the court of inquiry. The court is explicit about what that means for you: if the address is wrong or changes, you must go in person to the State Court Clerk’s Office in Suite 127 of the Gadsden Courthouse to change it. The clerk’s office also states that it cannot take phone calls about scheduling a case.
The court sits in four terms a year, beginning on the first Monday in March, the first Monday in June, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in September and the first Monday in December.
Not sure which court your case is in?
Enter the ZIP code where the arrest happened and the full form opens with it filled in.
The license: thirty days, a fee, and a clean-up job
Georgia gives thirty days to request the administrative license hearing, and under section 40-5-67.1(g)(1) the written request must come with a $150 filing fee. Applying instead for an ignition interlock limited driving permit under section 40-5-64.1 is treated as a waiver of that hearing.
The Chatham County clerk’s FAQ adds two practical points:
- The clerk reports convictions only. If the DUI is acquitted, dismissed, reduced or otherwise resolved without a DUI conviction, the administrative suspension stays on the driving record until you contact the Department of Driver Services yourself, with a certified copy of the disposition, and have it removed.
- Your license stays with the court. The FAQ cites O.C.G.A. section 40-5-67 for the rule that a license taken by the officer stays with the court of jurisdiction until the case is decided, and describes the 180-day temporary permit (form DS1127) issued in some cases and how DDS extends it when the case is still open.
The FAQ also warns that driving while suspended is itself a crime that can bring criminal penalties and a further suspension.
| What happened | First time | With a prior | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convicted, first in five years | 12 months | — | O.C.G.A. § 40-5-63(a)(1) |
| Convicted, second in five years | — | 3 years | O.C.G.A. § 40-5-63(a)(2) |
| Refused the test | 1 year | — | O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1(d) |
The Chatham County DUI Court
The State Court runs a DUI Court for repeat offenders, and describes it in detail. It began on May 1, 2003. The sentencing judge may sentence anyone with two DUIs in a five-year period, or three in a lifetime, to take part, and after sentencing the court requires substance abuse treatment, 12-step meeting attendance, random drug tests and biweekly court appearances as conditions of probation. The treatment portion lasts at least a year, and the participant pays the treatment fees.
The court publishes the structure. DUI Court sits at two-week intervals, usually on Thursday afternoons from 4pm, and participants are screened for drugs and alcohol at random at least twice a week. Phase One lasts 12 weeks and works as an extended assessment; Phase Two, 17 weeks, is the active treatment; the fourth and final supervised phase, Aftercare, lasts 15 weeks and includes the work of getting the driver’s license reinstated. The second year is monitored through the court’s routine probation. A participant who misses requirements faces immediate sanctions, which the court says may include community service, jail or both.
The court states that as of March 2017 it had been certified by the Council of Accountability Court Judges, and reported that as of January 2019 more than 2,365 defendants had been sentenced to the program and 1,396 had graduated.
The statewide penalties behind all of this are on the Georgia DUI law page.
DUI cases across Chatham County
The State Court’s jurisdiction covers the geographic boundaries of Chatham County. What varies is the court of inquiry the case starts in.
| Situation | County | Where the case goes |
|---|---|---|
| An arrest in Savannah, Pooler, Garden City, Port Wentworth, Bloomingdale, Thunderbolt or Tybee Island | Chatham | That court of inquiry first, then bound over to State Court |
| A misdemeanor DUI once bound over | Chatham | State Court of Chatham County, 400 W. Oglethorpe Ave. |
| Two DUIs in five years, or three in a lifetime | Chatham | May be sentenced into the State Court’s DUI Court |
The State Court describes itself as having jurisdiction within the geographic boundaries of Chatham County. The court of inquiry the case starts in is the Recorder’s Court or a municipal court.
Tybee Island, Thunderbolt, Port Wentworth and the other municipal courts
Chatham County’s smaller cities — Tybee Island, Thunderbolt, Port Wentworth, Pooler, Garden City and Bloomingdale — have their own municipal courts, and the State Court lists misdemeanor cases bound over from each of them. Which court a case starts in is on the paperwork from the arrest; the Recorder’s Court lists its telephone as 912-652-7425.
Port Wentworth is the one whose court procedures page was readable when this was written. It says that anyone who wants a case “bound up” must speak with a judge to do so, with questions to the police department on 912-964-4360, which is also the number for scheduling a state-licensed Spanish interpreter; that guidance sits in a block of COVID-era instructions and may be dated. For traffic tickets, the page says a citation can only be disputed by appearing in court on the scheduled date and entering a not guilty plea, that paying a ticket is in effect a guilty plea, and that ticket payments can be made by money order to the police department at 323 Cantyre Street, by phone or online through ezcourtpay, or in person. Tybee Island and Thunderbolt did not publish a readable court page, so nothing is said here about their schedules. For the other Georgia pages on this site, see Atlanta and Gwinnett County.
Common questions about Savannah DUI cases
Which court decides a Savannah DUI?
The State Court of Chatham County, at the Eugene H. Gadsden Courthouse, 400 W. Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 127. A bound-over case starts in a court of inquiry — the Recorder's Court or a municipal court — and is sent on to the State Court.
Who prosecutes a DUI in Chatham County?
The State Court states that bound-over charges are reviewed by the District Attorney's Office, which decides whether to issue an accusation. In Fulton County, by contrast, a misdemeanor DUI is brought by the Solicitor-General.
Why haven't I received a court date?
The court states that it can take one to six weeks for documents to arrive from the court of inquiry, and that no court date is set until the District Attorney issues an accusation, which must be within two years of the offense date. The subpoena is mailed to the address on file, so keep it current in person at the clerk's office.
Who qualifies for the Chatham County DUI Court?
The court states that the sentencing judge may sentence anyone with two DUIs in a five-year period, or three in a lifetime. Treatment lasts at least a year and the participant pays the treatment fees.
My DUI was dismissed. Why is my license still suspended?
The clerk's FAQ says the clerk reports only convictions to the Department of Driver Services. If the case ends without a DUI conviction, you must contact DDS with a certified copy of the disposition to have the administrative suspension removed.
How long do I have to request a license hearing?
Thirty days, and the written request must include a $150 filing fee under O.C.G.A. section 40-5-67.1(g)(1). Applying for an ignition interlock limited driving permit instead waives the hearing.
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More for Georgia
- Georgia DUI law — the full penalty matrix, the statutes, and the rules on priors and interlock
- Atlanta and Fulton County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Marietta and Cobb County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Columbus and Muscogee County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Gwinnett County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Refusing a breathalyzer — what implied consent costs here against what it buys
- How long it stays on your record — three records, three clocks
- SR-22 insurance after a Georgia suspension — what the filing certifies and how long it runs
- Ignition interlock providers and costs in Georgia — what the device costs and who installs it
Sources
- State Court of Chatham County, about the court — read September 25, 2026
- State Court of Chatham County, DUI Court program — read September 25, 2026
- State Court of Chatham County, criminal division — read September 25, 2026
- State Court of Chatham County, frequently asked questions — read September 25, 2026
- Chatham County Courts, Recorder’s Court contact — read September 25, 2026
- City of Port Wentworth, court procedures — read September 25, 2026
- O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(a)(5) and the rest of the Georgia statutes cited on this page — read reproduction current as of 2024-03-28
Court addresses, hours and phone numbers were read from each court’s or office’s own published page on September 25, 2026. Those change without notice; confirm before you rely on them. No judge is named anywhere on this page, because a roster is exactly the kind of detail that goes stale silently.