The clerk of the superior court shall endorse the date and hour of filing on the statement filed pursuant to Code Section 44-14-471; and, at the expense of the county, the clerk shall provide a lien book with a proper index in which the clerk shall enter the date and hour of the filing; the names and addresses of the hospital, nursing home, physician practice, or provider of traumatic burn care medical practice, the operators thereof, and the patient; and the amount claimed. The information shall be recorded in the name of the patient. The clerk shall receive a fee as required by subparagraph (f)(1)(A) of Code Section 15-6-77 as his or her fee for such filing.
(Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 105, § 3; Ga. L. 1981, p. 1396, § 18; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 44; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1141, § 3; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1429, § 3; Ga. L. 2003, p. 140, § 44; Ga. L. 2004, p. 394, § 3; Ga. L. 2006, p. 334, § 3/SB 306.)
The 2002 amendments. The first 2002 amendment, effective July 1, 2002, in the first sentence, inserted "or she" twice and inserted ", nursing home, or provider of traumatic burn care medical practice" near the middle. The second 2002 amendment, effective July 1, 2002, in the first sentence, substituted "the clerk" for "he" twice, inserted "and", and deleted "; and the names and addresses of those claimed to be liable for damage" following "amount claimed"; added the second sentence; and inserted "or her" in the last sentence. See the Code Commission note regarding the effect of these amendments.
The 2003 amendment, effective May 14, 2003, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, deleted "hospital" preceding "lien book" and revised punctuation throughout this Code section.
The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2004, inserted "physician practice," near the middle of the first sentence.
The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2006, deleted the former second sentence of this Code section which read "Notwithstanding the provisions in Code Section 44-2-2, a lien provided for in Code Section 44-14-470 shall be filed in a separate docket from and shall not be commingled with judgment liens, materialmen's liens, mechanics' liens, tax liens, lis pendens notices, or any other liens that attach to the person or property of an individual."
Code Commission notes.- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2002, "or she" was deleted preceding "shall" twice in the first sentence.
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The general provision of O.C.G.A. § 15-6-77 should not be construed to include the recording of hospital liens, which is explicitly provided for by O.C.G.A. § 44-14-472. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U80-40.