Distribution of Georgia Laws and Journals of House and Senate; Pricing

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Public Officers and Employees
  4. Secretary of State
  5. Powers and Duties Generally
  6. Distribution of Georgia Laws and Journals of House and Senate; Pricing

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  1. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to distribute the Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly of Georgia. The Secretary of State shall notify the legislative counsel of the distribution requirements of electronic version and hard-bound volumes of Georgia Laws. Hard-bound volumes shall be distributed as provided in this Code section. The Secretary of State shall make distribution of the electronic version and bound volumes of the journals of the House and Senate. The Secretary of State shall notify the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate of the numbers of journals needed for distribution. Distribution shall be as provided in this Code section.
  2. Volumes distributed to members of the General Assembly, to libraries, to institutions of learning, or to agencies outside the State of Georgia shall become the property of the recipient. All volumes distributed within this state to the state or to any of its subordinate departments, agencies, or political subdivisions, or to public officers or to public employees within the state, other than members of the General Assembly, shall be the property of the appropriate public officer or employee during his term of office or employment and shall be turned over to his or her successor, and the Secretary of State shall take and retain a receipt from each such public officer or employee acknowledging this fact. The Secretary of State shall at all times use the most economical method of shipment consistent with the safety and security of the volumes. The Secretary of State shall make the distributions provided for in this Code section. Additional copies of the hard-bound volumes of the Georgia Laws and of the House and Senate Journals may be sold by the Secretary of State to persons desiring to purchase the same. The prices at which such volumes are to be sold shall be determined by the Secretary of State. In determining such prices the Secretary of State shall take into account the approximate cost to the state of producing such volumes and the usual and customary cost of comparable publications. Receipts from such sales shall be deposited by the Secretary of State into the general fund of the state treasury.
  3. Each of the officers, offices, and other entities listed in this subsection shall be authorized to order up to the indicated numbers of sets of the Georgia Laws from each legislative session. The numbers of sets authorized for each such officer, office, and entity shall be as follows:
    1. Law Department - 33 sets, which number may be increased by written order of the Attorney General;
    2. Each state agency or department - one set;
    3. Library of Congress - one set;
    4. University of Georgia - two sets;
    5. Supreme Court of Georgia - 12 sets, which number may be increased by written order of the Chief Justice;
    6. Court of Appeals of Georgia - 13 sets, which number may be increased by written order of the Chief Judge;
    7. Administrative Office of the Courts - one set;
    8. Each superior court judge - one set;

      (8.1) Each clerk of superior court - one set;

    9. Each district attorney - one set;
    10. Each judge of probate court - two sets, of which one set may be retained for the judge's own use and one set may be issued to the county attorney;
    11. Each state court - one set;
    12. Each magistrate court - one set;
    13. United States Supreme Court - one set;
    14. United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit - one set;
    15. United States District Courts for the State of Georgia - six sets;
    16. Clerk of the House of Representatives - five sets;
    17. Each member of the General Assembly - one set;
    18. House Judiciary Committee - one set;
    19. House Majority Leader - one set;
    20. House Minority Leader - one set;
    21. House Budget and Research Office and Senate Budget and Evaluation Office - one set each;
    22. Legislative counsel - 15 sets, which number may be increased by written order of the legislative counsel;
    23. Legislative fiscal officer - one set;
    24. President of the Senate - one set;
    25. President pro tempore of the Senate - one set;
    26. Secretary of the Senate - three sets;
    27. Speaker of the House - one set; and
    28. Senate Judiciary Committee - one set.
  4. Each of the following officers, offices, and other entities shall be authorized to order up to the indicated numbers of the Georgia Senate and House Journals from each legislative session; provided, however, that such officers, offices, and entities shall pay the Secretary of State the cost of acquisition of such volumes:
    1. Law Department - four sets, which number may be increased by written order of the Attorney General;
    2. Each state agency or department - one set;
    3. State Archives - one set;
    4. Georgia Historical Society - two sets;
    5. Each foreign government and each state participating in an exchange and depository program - one set;
    6. Library of Congress - two sets;
    7. Augusta College - one set;
    8. Georgia Institute of Technology - one set;
    9. Georgia State University - one set;
    10. University of Georgia - seven sets;
    11. Department of Administrative Services - one set;
    12. Department of Human Services - one set;
    13. Supreme Court of Georgia - as requested in writing by the Chief Justice;
    14. Court of Appeals of Georgia - as requested in writing by the Chief Judge;
    15. Each judge of probate court - one set;
    16. Legislative counsel - five sets;
    17. Legislative fiscal officer - nine sets;
    18. Each member of the House of Representatives - one set;
    19. Speaker of the House - one set;
    20. Clerk of the House of Representatives - three sets;
    21. House Judiciary Committee - one set;
    22. House Majority Leader - one set;
    23. House Minority Leader - one set;
    24. Each member of the Senate - one set;
    25. President of the Senate - one set;
    26. President pro tempore of the Senate - one set;
    27. Secretary of the Senate - three sets; and
    28. Senate Judiciary Committee - one set.
  5. In the case of newly created courts or judgeships, and in the case of other state departments, agencies, and entities needing session laws or journals or both, requests for session laws and journals may be filled in whole or in part as the Secretary of State deems appropriate; and the Secretary of State may add names to or delete names from the distribution lists for the session laws and journals as he or she deems appropriate, except that the Secretary of State may not delete those authorized to order sets under subsection (c) of this Code section.
  6. Each officer, office, or other entity authorized to order Georgia Laws or Georgia Senate and House Journals pursuant to subsection (c) or (d) of this Code section shall do so by placing such order in writing to the Secretary of State prior to the end of each session of the General Assembly. A written order from an officer, office, or other entity shall remain in effect for two years. The Secretary of State shall not provide Georgia Laws or House and Senate Journals to any such officer, office, or other entity without a written order. The Secretary of State has no obligation to provide Georgia Laws or House or Senate Journals to any such officer, office, or other entity unless a written order has been placed in accordance with the time frame specified in this subsection.
  7. The Secretary of State shall reserve five copies each of the session laws and of the journals of the House and Senate for three years after their receipt. After three years he or she shall hold in reserve one copy of each of the laws and journals. Copies of the laws and journals in excess of the required reserve and not needed for purposes of distribution or exchange may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the Secretary of State.
  8. The Secretary of State shall act as the exchange officer of this state for the purpose of a regular exchange between this state and other states and foreign governments of the session laws and the journals of the House and Senate. To the extent that the Secretary of State deems such exchanges appropriate, if requested by the Attorney General to make such exchanges, the Secretary of State may distribute one set of the session laws and the journals of the House and Senate to each participating state and foreign government.

(Ga. L. 1943, p. 406, § 1; Ga. L. 1960, p. 1098, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 88, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 7, § 2; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1129, § 7; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 45; Ga. L. 1990, p. 782, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2431, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 2008, p. VO1, § 1-20/HB 529; Ga. L. 2008, p. 267, §§ 4, 5, 6/SB 482; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-2/HB 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 838, § 2/SB 388; Ga. L. 2014, p. 866, § 45/SB 340.)

The 2014 amendment, effective April 29, 2014, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "House Budget and Research Office and Senate Budget and Evaluation Office" for "House Budget Office and Senate Budget Office" in paragraph (c)(21).

Cross references.

- Duties of Secretary of State relating to summary of general amendments to Constitution of Georgia, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. X, Sec. I, Para. III and § 21-2-4.

Depositing of engrossed copies of laws and joint resolutions in office of Secretary of State, § 28-1-11.

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2010, the paragraph (8.1) designation was added in subsection (c) and "subsection (c) or (d)" was substituted for "subsection (c)" in the first sentence of subsection (f).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1990, p. 782, § 5, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to this Code section is applicable with respect to Georgia Laws and journals for sessions of the General Assembly taking place after October 1, 1990.


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