Cobb State Court Building Reopens After Bomb Threat

Updated: 1:50 p.m. 

The Cobb State Court building in downtown Marietta was evacuated for around 90 minutes this morning because of a bomb threat, but reopened for court business before lunchtime.

"We're back and open and operational," Cobb State Court Administrator Frank Baker told Patch around 11:30 a.m. "Judges are back on the bench and hopefully we can catch up today."

Baker said the building, located at 12 East Park Square, was evacuated around 9:30 a.m. and reopened shortly before 11 a.m. He declined to offer more details about the bomb threat. 

The Cobb Sheriff's Department handles security for the Cobb court system. 

According to 11 Alive, a bomb threat was called in at 9 a.m. The story said a colonel in the Sheriff's department indicated that a smoldering fire was discovered in a ceiling tile in a women's restroom in the State Court building, and that the fire was put out by Cobb County fire personnel.

The nearby Cobb Superior Court was not affected by the threat and business there proceeded as usual, Cobb Superior Court administrator Tom Charron told Patch. 

According to the Twitter account @Atlanta_Traffic, which first reported the bomb threat, streets in and around the square had been closed as City of Marietta public safety units swept through the State Court building. Those streets included Roswell Street, East Park Square, Waddell Street, Lawrence Street and Cherokee Street.

Those streets also were reopened to traffic.