Recusal in Georgia runs on Uniform Superior Court Rule 25, and the judge you are complaining about does not decide whether you are right.
What You File
Rule 25.1 requires that all motions to recuse “shall be timely filed in writing and all evidence thereon shall be presented by accompanying affidavit(s) which shall fully assert the facts upon which the motion is founded.”
It is two documents, not one; a motion without an affidavit does not start the process.
The Assigned Judge Screens It
Under Rule 25.3 the judge must “temporarily cease to act upon the merits of the matter” and then decide three threshold questions: whether the motion is timely, whether the affidavit is legally sufficient, and whether recusal “would be warranted” assuming its facts are true. That is a screening function, not a ruling on the merits. If all three are satisfied, “another judge shall be assigned to hear the motion to recuse,” and the allegations “stand denied automatically.”
If they are not, the motion stops there. Lacy v. Lacy, 320 Ga. App. 739 (2013), a divorce case, puts it plainly: the judge “shall deny the motion on its face as insufficient, and there is no need … to assign the motion to another judge to hear.”
The Challenged Judge Cannot Pick the Replacement
Rule 25.5 provides that the challenged judge “shall neither select nor participate in the selection of the judge to hear the motion.” Whoever hears it must make written findings under Rule 25.6.
That second judge’s job is narrow. In Horn v. Shepherd, 294 Ga. 468 (2014), a judge assigned to a post-divorce recusal motion went on to hold the husband in contempt. The Georgia Supreme Court vacated that order: the assignment “authorizes the new judge only to hear the motion to recuse, not the whole case.”
Contact Us
This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!