Exemptions From Numbering Requirements

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Waters of the State, Ports, and Watercraft
  4. Registration, Operation, and Sale of Watercraft
  5. General Provisions
  6. Exemptions From Numbering Requirements

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A vessel shall not be required to be numbered under Code Sections 52-7-4 and 52-7-5 if it is:

  1. Not motor propelled; provided, however, that sailboats 12 feet or more in length shall require registration;
  2. Covered by a certificate of number in full force and effect which has been issued to it pursuant to federal law or a federally approved numbering system of another state, provided that such vessel shall not be used on the waters of this state for a period in excess of 60 consecutive days;
  3. From a country other than the United States, provided that such vessel shall not be used on the waters of this state for a period in excess of 60 consecutive days;
  4. A vessel whose owner is the United States, a state, or a subdivision thereof, which vessel is used exclusively in the nonrecreation public service and which is clearly identifiable as such;
  5. A vessel's lifeboat if the boat is used solely for lifesaving purposes; this exemption does not include dinghies, tenders, speedboats, or other types of craft carried aboard vessels and used for other than lifesaving purposes;
  6. A vessel that is used exclusively for racing;
  7. A vessel belonging to a class of boats which has been exempted from numbering by the department after the department has found that:
    1. The numbering of vessels of such class will not materially aid in their identification;
    2. An agency of the federal government has a numbering system applicable to the class of vessel to which the vessel in question belongs; and
    3. The vessel would also be exempt from numbering if it were subject to the federal law;
  8. Operating temporarily by virtue of evidence that an application for a certificate of number has been submitted within the previous 60 days; or
  9. Used exclusively on privately owned ponds or lakes, except for those licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

(Ga. L. 1960, p. 235, § 5; Ga. L. 1973, p. 1427, § 5; Ga. L. 1981, p. 147, § 4; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 52; Ga. L. 1987, p. 567, § 5; Ga. L. 2006, p. 96, § 4/HB 1490; Ga. L. 2013, p. 892, § 2/HB 497.)

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, in paragraph (8), substituted "that an application" for "that a recent application" in the middle and added "within the previous 60 days" at the end.

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1988, the correct spelling of "exclusively" was substituted in paragraph (9).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Servicemen must register their privately-owned boats.

- The Soldiers' and Sailor's Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 574, does not apply to Ga. L. 1960, p. 235, § 5 and servicemen, resident and nonresident, must register their privately-owned boats after 60 days. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 30.

Registration of boats is not required when the lake is privately owned and not open to the general public. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 30.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 12 Am. Jur. 2d, Boats and Boating, § 22.


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