To look up bankruptcies in Georgia, search the federal Public Access to Court Electronic Records system at pacer.uscourts.gov, call the free Multi-Court Voice Case Information System at (866) 222-8029, or visit a bankruptcy court clerk’s office in the federal district that covers the debtor. Bankruptcy is exclusively a federal matter, so Georgia state courts don’t hold these records.
Which Federal District Covers the Debtor
Georgia is divided into three federal judicial districts, each with its own bankruptcy court. Identifying the right one first will save you time.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 90 – Georgia
- The Northern District covers the Atlanta metro area and north Georgia, with court held in Atlanta, Gainesville, Rome, and Newnan. Counties like Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Cherokee are here.
- The Middle District covers central and southwest Georgia, with court held in Macon, Columbus, Athens, Albany, and Valdosta, among other locations. Counties like Bibb, Muscogee, Clarke, Dougherty, and Lowndes fall in this district.
- The Southern District covers southeast Georgia, with staffed offices in Savannah, Augusta, and Brunswick. Counties like Chatham, Richmond, Columbia, and Glynn are in this district.
If you aren’t sure which district applies, the PACER Case Locator can search all three at once.
What to Have Ready Before You Search
At a minimum you need the debtor’s full legal name. Previous names, maiden names, and business trade names help when a filing doesn’t match the name you know them by now. A case number lets you pull the file directly with no guesswork.
An approximate filing year also helps. Georgia’s bankruptcy courts handle thousands of cases annually, and a common name can return dozens of hits. Knowing whether the filing happened in 2019 or 2023 is often the difference between a quick lookup and a long scroll.
Searching PACER Online
PACER is the standard tool for federal court records, and every Georgia bankruptcy case is in it. Register for a free account at pacer.uscourts.gov before you search; registration takes a few minutes.
Once you’re logged in, you have two options. The PACER Case Locator searches a nationwide index that updates daily, which is useful when you don’t know which Georgia district handled the case or you suspect filings in more than one state.2PACER: Federal Court Records. Find a Case If you already know the district, you can go directly to that court’s PACER portal and search by name or case number. Direct-court searches tend to return more detailed results, including docket entries and individual documents.
What It Costs
PACER charges $0.10 per page for viewing documents, docket sheets, and case-specific reports, with a $3.00 cap on any single document, the equivalent of 30 pages.3Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Public Access to Court Electronic Records The cap does not apply to name search results or to transcripts of court proceedings. If your total charges stay at $30 or less during a calendar quarter, the entire amount is waived and you pay nothing.4United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule For a casual lookup of one or two cases, you’ll almost certainly fall under that threshold.
Free Alternatives
McVCIS Phone Lookup
The Multi-Court Voice Case Information System is a free automated telephone service that reads basic case information aloud. Call (866) 222-8029 from any touch-tone phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.5United States Bankruptcy Court. Multi-Court Voice Case Information System (McVCIS) You’ll need either a case number, the debtor’s name, or their Social Security number.
The system provides a surprising amount at no cost: the case number, filing date, bankruptcy chapter, judge and trustee names, the debtor’s attorney and their phone number, discharge and closing dates, case status, whether the estate has assets, and deadlines for filing proofs of claim. You won’t get actual documents, but for a status check or to confirm whether someone filed at all, it’s hard to beat.
The RECAP Archive
RECAP is a free browser extension that works alongside PACER. When any RECAP user buys a document through PACER, that document is uploaded to a public archive at CourtListener.com. If someone has already purchased the document you need, you get it free through the PACER interface.6Free Law Project. RECAP Suite — Turning PACER Around Since 2009 Coverage is spotty for obscure cases, but high-profile or frequently searched Georgia filings are often already there.
Visiting a Clerk’s Office
Each Georgia district’s bankruptcy court has a clerk’s office where you can view records on public access terminals at no charge.4United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule Printing from those terminals costs $0.10 per page. If you ask the clerk’s office to reproduce documents for you, the fee jumps to $0.50 per page.7United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
The main staffed offices are in Atlanta for the Northern District, Macon and Columbus for the Middle District, and Savannah and Augusta for the Southern District. Bring a government-issued ID and expect security screening at the entrance. Call ahead to confirm hours and that the records you need are on-site, especially for older cases.
Older and Archived Cases
Federal courts don’t keep paper bankruptcy files at the courthouse forever. Under the judiciary’s records disposition schedule, most bankruptcy case files are transferred to a Federal Records Center 15 years after the case closes. Certain categories, including cases filed under older bankruptcy acts, Chapter 11 reorganizations, and cases deemed historically significant, are permanently preserved and eventually go to the National Archives. Routine consumer cases that don’t fall into a permanent category are destroyed 15 years after closing.8United States Courts. U.S. Judiciary Records Disposition Schedule
If the case has been transferred but not destroyed, the court can retrieve it for you. The retrieval fee is $70 for the first box plus $43 for each additional box. Electronic retrievals cost $11 plus any storage facility charges.7United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
For very old cases held by the National Archives, you can order copies directly through NARA’s online system. You’ll need the state, court city, debtor name, case number, transfer number, box number, and location number; contact the original court first to get those details.9U.S. National Archives & Records Administration. Bankruptcy Case Files NARA’s package options are:
- Entire case file: $90 for up to 150 pages, with additional pages billed at $22 per 15-minute increment of labor.
- Pre-selected documents (petition, discharge or dismissal order, debt summary, and key schedules): $35.
- Docket sheet only: $35.
- Certified copies: add $15 to any package.
All prices include shipping. For most people who just need to confirm the outcome of a case, the $35 pre-selected package does the job.
Reading What You Find
The petition identifies the debtor and the chapter filed under (7, 11, 12, or 13). The schedules of assets and liabilities list what the debtor owned and owed at the time of filing. The discharge order permanently releases the debtor from personal liability on qualifying debts and bars creditors from further collection on those debts.10United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics
Discharge Is Not Dismissal
Two outcomes look similar at a glance but mean very different things. A discharged case means the debtor completed the process and qualifying debts were eliminated. A dismissed case means the court closed the case without a discharge; the debtor still owes everything, and creditors can resume collection, including lawsuits, wage garnishment, and foreclosure. If you’re pulling records to evaluate someone’s financial situation, this distinction is the whole point of the search.
Credit Report Timing Is Separate
A bankruptcy filing can remain on a consumer credit report for up to 10 years from the date the court entered the order for relief.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports After that, credit reporting agencies must remove it. The court records themselves stay available through PACER and the courthouse indefinitely, subject to the archival timelines above, so a filing can still be found in the federal court system long after it disappears from a credit report.