Duties of Secretary of State Generally

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Public Officers and Employees
  4. Secretary of State
  5. Powers and Duties Generally
  6. Duties of Secretary of State Generally

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The Secretary of State shall have the following duties:

  1. To keep the great seal of the state, which seal was adopted August 17, 1914, and is now on deposit in the office of the Secretary of State;
  2. To keep the original Acts passed by the General Assembly and all the public records of the state not appertaining especially to other offices; to look to and preserve the records and papers belonging to the Senate and the House of Representatives; and to see that the original journals of both houses are deposited and kept in his office;
  3. To attest all grants and other public documents issuing from the Governor and requiring the great seal of the state;
  4. To keep a record of all grants issued by the state;
  5. To keep safely all bonds of agents appointed to disburse public money;
  6. To furnish to all applicants, upon the payment of the prescribed fees, copies of all records and public documents within his office and to attach the great seal of the state to such transcripts as the Governor or General Assembly may direct;
  7. To destroy, quadrennially, all election returns of those officials whose terms of office have expired, which returns are on file in his office;
  8. To keep a book showing the dates when commissions were issued for all civil and military officers;
  9. To keep safely all the records of plats of land granted and to report the condition of such records to the Governor at least once a year;
  10. To keep in his office correct maps of all the different surveys (made by state authority), and maps of surveys comprising the land lotteries, showing their division into numbers, districts, sections, and the like, with a separate map for every district;
  11. To keep a register of the various grantees and the dates of the grants;
  12. To keep correct maps of all surveys of rivers, harbors, swamps, or land, which surveys were made by the special direction of the General Assembly;
  13. When necessary, to contract for the execution of new maps or the reexecution or repair of old maps, subject to the ratification of the General Assembly;
  14. To certify under his official seal, as the comptroller general is directed to do;

    (14.1) To promulgate a regulation that establishes security protocols for voter registration information maintained and developed by the Secretary of State pursuant to Code Section 21-2-211 and 52 U.S.C. Section 21083. The regulation shall be generally consistent with current industry security standards, and in promulgating the regulation, the Secretary of State shall consider those security standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Center for Internet Security, and the federal Election Assistance Commission. The Secretary of State shall, at least annually, certify that the State of Georgia has substantially complied with the requirements of the regulation promulgated pursuant to this Code section;

  15. To print and distribute current maps describing the boundaries of congressional districts and the legislative districts of members of the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives; and
  16. To perform all other duties which are required of him by law or which necessarily attach to his office.

(Laws 1783, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 665; Laws 1799, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 959; Laws 1838, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 1030; Ga. L. 1861, p. 72, § 1; Code 1863, §§ 84, 85, 109; Ga. L. 1865-66, p. 249, § 1; Code 1868, §§ 78, 80, 82; Code 1873, §§ 83, 85, 87; Ga. L. 1878-79, p. 434; Code 1882, §§ 83, 85, 87; Civil Code 1895, §§ 179, 181, 183, 185; Civil Code 1910, §§ 208, 210, 212, 214; Ga. L. 1914, p. 1247; Code 1933, §§ 40-601, 40-604; Code 1933, § 40-601.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1945, p. 402, § 2; Ga. L. 1946, p. 75, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1608, § 1; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 45/HB 79; Ga. L. 2019, p. 311, § 2/HB 392.)

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added paragraph (14.1).

Cross references.

- Function of Secretary of State as custodian of state flag, § 50-3-4.

Description of great seal of state, § 50-3-30.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Admissibility of copy of record.

- A copy of a record furnished under O.C.G.A. § 45-13-20, is admissible in any court if it throws light on the case. Forrell v. Hurst, 68 Ga. 132 (1881).

Standing of Secretary of State to object to request to view election records under Open Records Act.

- The Georgia Secretary of State had standing to object to a request under the Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., for election records held by a county. Under O.C.G.A. §§ 21-2-30,21-2-31,21-2-32,21-2-50 et seq., and45-13-20 et seq., the Secretary was charged with the supervision of all elections in Georgia and thus had the right to seek judicial intervention. Smith v. DeKalb County, 288 Ga. App. 574, 654 S.E.2d 469 (2007), cert. denied, No. S08C0596, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 291 (Ga. 2008).

A plat on file in the office of the Secretary of State is presumed to show correctly the original divisions of the lands in question into land lots, and to correctly locate the dividing lines between them. Turner v. Howser, 82 Ga. App. 88, 60 S.E.2d 505 (1950).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Delegation of ministerial and clerical duties.

- The Secretary of State may delegate ministerial and clerical duties of a fiscal nature to an employee in the Secretary's office, but remains legally responsible for their performance. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 312.

The Secretary of State is bound to obey an injunction granted against the Secretary as soon as the Secretary is informed that the injunction has been granted. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 313.

New map necessary to correct errors.

- The Secretary of State may not correct errors in county maps or plats on file in the Secretary's office and if it is determined that the record is incorrect it would seem that a new map would have to be authenticated by the county surveyor or some other surveyor acting under the Secretary's authority. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 314.

The Secretary of State is without authority to furnish statements declaring that the State of Georgia has no interest in any designated tracts of land. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 264.

No state surveyor is available to survey private property in order to settle private disputes. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 394.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 128 et seq. 72 Am. Jur. 2d, States, Territories, and Dependencies, § 65.

C.J.S.

- 67 C.J.S., Officers, § 344. 81A C.J.S., States, § 240.


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