Opinions

As used in O.C.G.A. § 45-10-4, the phrase “[u]pon formal charges being filed” does not mean that a citizen can simply submit information to the Governor and trigger the hearing process contemplated by the Code Section.

Find a PDF version of the official opinion here .

The Attorney General serves as the sole legal counsel to the Executive Branch of state government, does not have a legal conflict in doing so and further is not required to engage other counsel at the direction of a client. The State Election Board is not empowered to direct the Attorney General to conduct an investigation under Title 21 whether on his own or through outside investigators. The Election Code does not empower the Attorney General to act on his own as an investigator beyond the limited context of a referral of a case to the Attorney General for potential criminal prosecution as referenced in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-31(5).

Find a PDF version of the Official Opinion here .

2023 Update of Crimes and Offenses for Which the Georgia Crime Information Center is Authorized to Collect and File Fingerprints

The State, as owner of the Project Site, and Rivian Automotive, LLC, as the developer and operator of the Project site owned by the State, are exempt from local zoning ordinances.  

2021 Update of Crimes and Offenses for Which the Georgia Crime Information Center is Authorized to Collect and File Fingerprints

2020 update of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

The Ethics in Government Act limits the authority of the Commission as to which offices may have their contribution limits adjusted in a particular year.  The Commission may raise or lower contribution limits only in set increments of $100, depending on the inflation or deflation rates of the Consumer Price Index. The Commission must adjust Contribution limits for primaries, primary run-offs, general elections, and general election run-offs, only after the conclusion of the election cycle for that particular office. For special elections, special election run-offs, and recall elections, the Commission may adjust those limits only once every four years.  The Commission cannot delegate its authority to set contribution limits to commission staff.  Finally, the Commission is not authorized to increase or decrease the contribution limits applicable to a particular election for a particular office more than once during the election cycle for that particular office, whether the office be state-wide, county, or municipal.

The term “state” as used specifically in O.C.G.A. § 40-5-27(a)(3)(A) includes territories of the United States such that persons from the territories who are applying for a driver’s license and who otherwise satisfy the conditions of the statute may be exempted from the on-the-road driving test and the knowledge test.

Supplemental 2019 update of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

2019 update of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

The provisions of the City of Canton’s ordinance that prohibit the sale of dogs and cats, among other things, conflict with and are preempted by the Georgia Animal Protection Act and the rules promulgated thereunder.

The Department of Public Safety is not authorized to establish maximum rates for the removal and storage of motor vehicles pursuant to the Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act beyond its regulatory authority as set forth in O.C.G.A. § 44-1-13

2018 update of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

The Georgia National Guard is a law enforcement agency eligible to share in proceeds of drug‑related forfeitures and 1995 Op. Att’y Gen. 95‑29 describing the legal authority to do so is modified to reflect changes and current Georgia law, including the adoption of the “Georgia Uniform Civil Forfeiture Procedure Act.”

Simultaneously serving as a legislator and a deputy sheriff violates the Georgia Constitution’s separation of powers provision and potentially violates other constitutional provisions and common law rules governing conflicts of interest.

Georgia law does not require a vehicle travelling on a three or five lane road divided by a center turn lane to stop for a school bus that is stopped on the opposite side of the road with its visual signals engaged.

After July 1, 2018, only persons who are licensed as "lactation consultants" in Georgia or who meet one of the Georgia Lactation Consultant Practice Act's exceptions to licensure may provide "lactation care and services" as that term is defined by the Act.

Notwithstanding whether a person has a license to carry a weapon, Georgia law separately prohibits individuals from carrying weapons into both faculty, staff and administrative offices, as well as any room on a school campus in which disciplinary proceedings are conducted.

While Georgia law permits certain law enforcement personnel and others to carry firearms into a courthouse building, a judge may still control who may enter and carry firearms within his or her own courtroom.

The Georgia Cemetery and Funeral Services Act requires a cemetery to make deposits to a perpetual care trust fund based on a percentage of the sales price of any burial right, cemetery lot, grave space, niche, mausoleum, columbarium, urn, or crypt sold by a cemetery and prohibits a cemetery from charging an additional fee or add-on to the customer.

Convictions for violations of O.C.G.A. §§ 40‑6‑391(2), (4), (6), and 40‑5‑151 (2016) should be reported by the Clerk to the Department of Driver Services (“DDS”).  Convictions for violations of O.C.G.A. §§ 16‑13‑30(b), 16‑13‑31, and 16‑13‑31.1 (2016) should be reported to DDS only upon the clerk’s determination that the conviction meets the mandate of O.C.G.A. § 40‑5‑54(a)(2).

Updating of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

There is no conflict between O.C.G.A. § 31‑12‑12(c) (Supp. 2016), which prohibits dispensing contact lenses or spectacles without a prescription, and O.C.G.A. § 43‑29‑14(b) (2016), which authorizes a licensed dispensing optician to duplicate lenses without a prescription, and a licensed dispensing optician still has the authority to duplicate and dispense lenses without a prescription.

A master’s level social work graduate from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education may provide social work services without a license as long as such person does not hold himself or herself out as being licensed or use words, letters, titles, images, or figures stating or implying licensure.

Changes to Chapter 4, Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia that were instituted through the passage of HB 231, 2010 Ga. Laws 748, authorize registered interior designers to submit plans under seal to local building authorities for permitting approval of nonstructural interior construction, so long as they do not involve construction that would trigger the restrictions as outlined in O.C.G.A. § 25‑2‑14(a)(1) (2014).

Local governments are not empowered to require licensing of wholesalers of alcoholic beverages that take orders for sales and make deliveries of alcoholic beverages within those local governments, but do not have locations or offices within the boundaries of those local governments.

Updating of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints

Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses do not have access to the GAPDMP database specifically as dispensers or as individuals authorized to dispense prescriptions for controlled substances, but may be able to access the GAPDMP database as delegates of physicians who have the authority to prescribe or dispense.

A physician licensed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board is required to report to the Board a payment made as a result of a high-low agreement in a medical malpractice case, even if there is a judgment in favor of the physician.

Because neither the Constitution nor the Act’s provisions authorize or contemplate a cap on assistance grants based on the total exemption value of forest land conservation use property, the Department of Revenue would not be authorized to impose an administrative cap on assistance grants issued pursuant to the Forest Land Protection Act of 2008 in the manner proposed.

The Secretary of State and the Georgia Board of Nursing have related but separate, distinguishable roles with respect to the selection of the executive director of the Board.  The Secretary of State has the authority to select which qualified candidate or candidates to submit to the Board for its approval, and the Board has the authority to approve from the submitted candidate or candidates who may be appointed to serve as its executive director.

To the extent 2002 Op. Att’y Gen. 2002-5 is inconsistent with O.C.G.A. § 9‑16‑21, it is withdrawn.

The mere possession of another voter’s absentee ballot does not constitute unlawful possession of an absentee ballot under either O.C.G.A. § 21‑2‑385(a) or § 21‑2‑574.

County and municipal governments may issue notices of fees due for statutory late filings by candidates and committees under the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act of 2010, but those governments are not authorized otherwise to enforce the provisions of the Act or to retain any portion of the late fees imposed under the Act.

An appointment to the DeKalb County Audit Oversight Committee may not be rescinded and the appointee may not be removed from her position without following the procedures outlined under the law.

Updating of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

Both federal law and the State’s agreement to act as the state refugee resettlement coordinator prevent the State from denying federally-funded benefits to Syrian refugees lawfully admitted into the United States.

Updating of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

Political subdivisions may establish payroll deduction programs for public employees provided that there is statutory authority to do so and that the programs are not unconstitutional gratuities.

A member of the Georgia General Assembly may not serve as a municipal court judge.

Only the Governor has the authority to fill the temporary vacancy created by the suspension of a Harris County commissioner pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 45‑5‑6.

A local Historic Preservation Commission does not have the authority to regulate the alteration of the exterior paint color of a building within a historic district.

Fingerprintable Offense Designation

The state, its departments, agencies, and authorities, including the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission and its construction projects,[1] are not required to seek and obtain permits for post-development stormwater handling or to enter stormwater facility maintenance agreements; neither the issuance of land-disturbance permits nor connection to the local storm sewer may be conditioned on the state’s compliance with local post-development stormwater requirements.  Local governments may require payment by the state of a tap or impact fee as a condition of connecting the local storm sewer.

Based on the relevant statutory language, the Jekyll Island State Park Authority does not have discretion to adopt the “65/35 Task Force” Recommendation to the extent that it uses a measurement reference point other than Mean High Tide.

While the Immigration Enforcement Review Board should act with due diligence and hold hearings within a reasonable period of time from the date that a complaint is received by the Board, the Board is under no statutory deadline to hold a hearing on the merits of a complaint filed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50‑36‑3 within a specified period of time from the date that the complaint is received.

Intergovernmental agreements for the provision of misdemeanor probation services

Updating of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

The images and data in the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority’s statewide online information system for deeds, liens, and plats are subject to disclosure under the Open Records Act, but the Authority may charge fees in accordance with a fee schedule adopted pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 15‑6‑94.