Atlanta Municipal Court back in business (sort of ) after cyberattack

Atlanta’s municipal court held regular proceedings Monday for the first time since cyberattackers hacked into the city’s computer system in March. People with dates in traffic court and else- where this week are expected to report as scheduled.

But the underlying issues don’t appear to be resolved.

A city of Atlanta spokes- person said the ability to hold court Monday was “due to the implementation of a manual paper-based process.” No update on the sta- tus of the court’s digital systems was provided.

“All cases scheduled for today and moving forward, including but not limited to traffic, housing, code and ordinance violations, criminal, parking, and traf- fic enforcement are being heard,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Atlanta Municipal Court, which handles cases rang- ing from traffic citations and DUIs to code violations and some criminal offenses, is believed to be one of the bus- iest courts in the Southeast- ern United States. It hears an average of 2,200 cases a day.

The court has been forced to reset court dates, however, since the original ransomware attack on Atlanta was reported March 22. Reset notices were or will be sent via mail, city officials have said.

Failure to appear court, in which defendants who did not appear at prior court dates can resolve their issues, had also been closed since the cyberattack was reported. The city said Monday that individuals in FTA status could “appear in person with their questions, as circumstances vary from case to case.”