# Official Code of Georgia Annotated/Title 1/Chapter 1/Section 10

This is revision 73, as released by Public.Domain.Org.
(a) The following Codes, laws, and parts of laws are repealed, except as otherwise provided in this Code section:
    (1) The Code of Georgia of 1933, as amended;
    (2) All general laws enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia prior to June 1, 1981, except this Code and except as otherwise provided in this Code section; and
    (3) All codes enacted or approved by the General Assembly prior to the Code of Georgia of 1933.
(b) The following laws and parts of laws are not repealed by the adoption of this Code and shall remain of full force and effect until otherwise repealed, amended, superseded, or declared invalid or unconstitutional:
    (1) Acts and resolutions conveying, granting, leasing, encumbering, selling, exchanging, or authorizing easements in specific state-owned property or rights therein;
    (2) Acts and resolutions providing for appropriations of state funds;
    (3) Acts and resolutions granting compensation to persons, firms, partnerships, corporations, and private or governmental entities injured by the state or its officials, officers, employees, or agents;
    (4) Local Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly which are in effect on November 1, 1982, and which are not in conflict with this Code;
    (5) Acts and resolutions which by their terms are applicable to a named superior court or judicial circuit, including but not limited to Acts fixing the terms of court and Acts providing for judges, district attorneys, or other personnel or their compensation, powers, or duties;
    (6) Resolutions proposing amendments to the Constitution or proposing a new Constitution or portions thereof;
    (7) Acts and resolutions ceding jurisdiction over territory within the state to the federal government;
    (8) Acts and resolutions creating committees or commissions of the General Assembly or authorizing studies;
    (9) Acts and resolutions providing for the furnishing of law books to various courts, governmental entities, libraries, and public officials;
    (10) Acts and resolutions designating or naming highways, bridges, buildings, ferries, dams, structures, parks, natural resources, or other property or authorizing the placement of statues, plaques, memorials, portraits, or monuments;
    (11) Resolutions relating to or providing for the internal operation of the General Assembly;
    (12) Resolutions not intended to have the force and effect of law;
    (13) General Acts of local application which are based on population and which have not been specifically repealed or declared invalid or unconstitutional;
    (14) Acts and resolutions honoring, commending, or recognizing individuals, groups, principles, or ideas or urging that certain acts be done or refrained from by the federal, state, or local governments or by individuals, groups, or entities; and
    (15) Acts and resolutions relieving sureties or bondsmen.
(c) The following specific laws and parts of laws are not repealed by the adoption of this Code and shall remain of full force and effect, pursuant to their terms, until otherwise repealed, amended, superseded, or declared invalid or unconstitutional:
    (1) An Act for reviving and enforcing certain laws therein mentioned and adopting the common laws of England as they existed on May 14, 1776, approved February 25, 1784. (For the adopting Act of 1784, see Prince’s 1822 Digest, p. 570; Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 721; and Code of 1863, Section 1, paragraph 6.)
    (2) Section 10 of an Act amending an Act prohibiting certain practices in connection with real estate transactions, approved March 24, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 480).
    (3) Section 13 of an Act known as the “Georgia Marketing Act of 1981,” approved April 13, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1354).
    (4) Sections 1 and 67 of an Act to revise, modernize, codify, and update certain laws relating to alcoholic beverages, approved April 13, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1269).
    (5) Section 4 of an Act amending an Act known as the “Insurance Premium Finance Company Act,” approved April 7, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 760).
    (6) Sections 5 and 6 of an Act amending Code Title 56, known as the “Georgia Insurance Code,” so as to provide additional qualifications for licensure of agents and counselors for life or accident and sickness insurance and for the making of annuity contracts, approved April 17, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1789).
    (7) Section 1 of an Act prohibiting discrimination in the employment of the handicapped and known as the “Georgia Equal Employment for the Handicapped Code,” approved April 17, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1803).
    (8) Section 3 of an Act amending Code Section 56—3005, relating to optional policy provisions in accident and sickness policies, so as to remove the provisions relating to insurance with other insurers, approved April 9, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1009).
    (9) Section 4 of an Act amending Code Title 114, relating to workers’ compensation, so as to redefine the term “employee,” approved April 17, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1585).
    (10) Section 3 of an Act amending Code Title 56, known as the “Georgia Insurance Code,” so as to require that certain accident and sickness policies and plans provide conversion privileges for insured surviving spouses or former spouses, approved April 7, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 640).
    (11) Section 2 of an Act amending Code Section 3—305, relating to suits against representatives of obligors, so as to reduce the period of exemption from suit for representatives of estates from 12 months to six months, approved April 9, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 852).
    (12) An Act providing that the State of Georgia shall be a party to the “Southern Interstate Nuclear Compact,” approved March 3, 1962, (Ga. L. 1962, p. 505), as amended.
    (13) A resolution creating the Georgia Semiquincentenary Commission, approved April 14, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1472).
    (14) Section 1 of an Act authorizing the Supreme Court of Georgia to establish a uniform motion for review procedure, approved March 20, 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 390).
    (15) Section 2 of an Act providing for distribution of certain moneys received or to be received as a result of the commission of a crime, approved April 17, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 1262).
    (16) Section 4 of an Act amending certain provisions relating to trial and accusation and waiver of indictment, approved March 20, 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 452).
    (17) Section 4 of an Act providing for an additional credit to be given to criminal defendants who are confined in an institution or facility for treatment or examination of a physical or mental disability, approved April 3, 1972 (Ga. L. 1972, p. 742).
    (18) Sections 14 and 15 of an Act providing for representation by counsel, services, and facilities for indigent persons in criminal proceedings, approved April 18, 1968 (Ga. L. 1968, p. 999).
    (19) Section 13 of an Act to provide defense services for indigent persons accused of crime, approved March 9, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 367).
    (20) A resolution approving the adoption of the rules of the Supreme Court, approved April 14, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1532).
    (21) Section 7 of an Act creating a new judicial circuit for this state to be known as the Douglas Judicial Circuit, approved March 20, 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 563).
    (22) Section 38—612 of the Code of 1933, relating to Acts allowing papers improperly registered, and their copies, when lost, to be admitted in evidence.
    (23) Section 3 of an Act providing for the incorporation by reference of various fiduciary powers into wills, trusts, or other instruments in writing and providing that no exercise of any such power or authority by a fiduciary shall deprive the trust or estate involved of an otherwise available tax exemption, approved April 17, 1973 (Ga. L. 1973, p. 846).
    (24) Section 3 of an Act amending an Act providing for the incorporation by reference of various fiduciary powers into wills, trusts, and other instruments in writing, approved April 17, 1973 (Ga. L. 1973, p. 846), and providing that the Act shall not apply to any will, trust, or other instrument executed prior to April 7, 1976, approved April 7, 1976 (Ga. L. 1976, p. 1586).
    (25) Section 2 of an Act providing that mutual wills, other than mutual wills based on express contract, must contain an express statement that such wills are mutual wills, approved April 18, 1967 (Ga. L. 1967, p. 718).
    (26) Sections 4 through 9 of an Act to provide for the number of witnesses required to attest wills and codicils and to provide for the execution and probate of wills and codicils, approved May 28, 1964 (Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 16).
    (27) Section 2 of an Act providing a residuary bequest or devise to a surviving widow in lieu of dower or years support shall be subject to debts, taxes, expenses of administration and similar charges, approved April 8, 1968 (Ga. L. 1968, p. 1070).
    (28) Section 2 of an Act changing from six months to nine months the time period within which a written instrument of renunciation must be filed, approved April 17, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 1292).
    (29) Section 2 of an Act providing additional procedures for taking the testimony of witnesses for wills, approved March 24, 1976 (Ga. L. 1976, p. 640).
    (30) Section 2 of an Act providing how guardians, administrators, executors, trustees, and other fiduciaries may sell stocks or bonds, approved March 2, 1953 (Ga. L. 1953, Jan.–Feb. Sess., p. 378).
    (31) Section 15 of an Act providing for the supervision by the Attorney General of the administration of charitable trusts, approved March 21, 1974 (Ga. L. 1974, p. 440).
    (32) Section 6 of an Act prescribing procedure for appeals upon petition to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals in certain specified cases shall not apply to appeals in certain habeas corpus cases, approved April 12, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 619).
    (33) Section 1 of an Act to be known as the “Georgia Public Revenue Code” and revising and modernizing certain revenue laws and to provide legislative intent, approved March 6, 1978 (Ga. L. 1978, p. 309).
    (34) Section 13 of an Act creating the Department of Offender Rehabilitation and the Board of Offender Rehabilitation and abolishing the State Board of Probation, approved April 6, 1972 (Ga. L. 1972, p. 1069).
    (35) Section 3 of an Act prohibiting any interference with the printing of the reports of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, approved March 29, 1937 (Ga. L. 1937, p. 503).
    (36) Section 7 of an Act providing that the powers and duties of the Department of Administrative Services relative to contracts for supplies and services required by the state shall not be construed to affect, repeal, or limit an Act known as the “Unemployment Compensation Law,” approved April 12, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 659).
    (37) Section 2 of an Act providing that the provisions regarding membership of certain metropolitan area planning and development commissions shall not be changed, approved April 6, 1978 (Ga. L. 1978, p. 2066).
    (38) Section 2 of an Act providing that certain additional authority granted to each area planning and development commission and the expiration of such authority shall not repeal, limit, or diminish any power heretofore possessed by any metropolitan area planning and development commission, approved March 23, 1977 (Ga. L. 1977, p. 782).
    (39) Section 5 of an Act providing that certain functions and authority granted to area planning and development commissions shall be cumulative of any authority provided to certain metropolitan area planning and development commissions and shall not diminish any authority heretofore granted to any such commission, approved April 11, 1978 (Ga. L. 1978, p. 2293).
    (40) Section 2 of an Act reestablishing the Georgia Council for the Arts and Humanities, approved March 13, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 388).
    (41) Section 9 of an Act substantially amending the duties, responsibilities and procedures of the Public Service Commission, approved April 14, 1975 (Ga. L. 1975, p. 404).
    (42) Section 7 of an Act amending the powers and duties of the State Depository Board and the regulation of deposits therein, approved March 23, 1960 (Ga. L. 1960, p. 1144).
    (43) Section 11 of the “Telecommunications Consolidation Act of 1973,” approved April 18, 1973 (Ga. L. 1973, p. 1261).
    (44) Section 9 of the “Public Safety Radio Services Act of 1975,” approved April 28, 1975 (Ga. L. 1975, p. 1642).
    (45) Section 2 of an Act amending an Act implementing the requirements of the Federal Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968, approved March 20, 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 736).
    (46) Section 2 of an Act providing that powers of sale and other powers in deeds of trust, mortgages, and other instruments may be exercised by transferees and other parties regardless of whether or not the transfer specifically includes such powers or conveys title to the property described, approved April 18, 1967 (Ga. L. 1967, p. 735).
    (47) Section 4 of an Act providing that a power of sale, unless limited in the instrument creating such power, authorizes a private sale by the donee of such power, except as to instruments given to secure a debt, approved March 4, 1955 (Ga. L. 1955, p. 430).
    (48) An Act requiring the conditional sales of personal property to be evidenced in writing, approved September 27, 1881 (Ga. L. 1880–81, p. 143), as amended.
    (49) An Act to provide that the lien of mortgages on crops given to secure the payment of debts for supplies, money, and other articles of necessity shall be superior to judgments of older date than the mortgages, approved December 21, 1899 (Ga. L. 1899, p. 78).
    (50) An Act to extend the lien of mortgages on crops, before the crops are planted or growing, approved July 15, 1924 (Ga. L. 1924, p. 125).
    (51) Sections 2 and 3 of an Act declaring that growing crops shall be personalty and providing that mortgages or other liens thereof shall be attested and recorded as chattel mortgages, approved August 21, 1922 (Ga. L. 1922, p. 114).
    (52) An Act authorizing the securing of advances made for the purpose of planting, making, or gathering crops by giving a bill of sale, approved August 22, 1925 (Ga. L. 1925, p. 118), as amended.
    (53) An Act declaring the selling or encumbering of personal property held under a conditional purchase to be illegal, approved September 28, 1883 (Ga. L. 1882–83, p. 111).
    (54) An Act to prevent the removal of personal property from this state held under a conditional purchase and sale, and by the terms of the purchase, the title is retained by the vendor until the purchase price is paid, without the consent of the vendor, and to prevent the vendee in such a purchase and sale from concealing the property, approved August 15, 1910 (Ga. L. 1910, p. 120).
    (55) An Act to be known as the “Apartment Ownership Act,” approved April 12, 1963 (Ga. L. 1963, p. 561), as amended.
    (56) An Act to create the positions of associate public service commissioners, approved February 18, 1953 (Ga. L. 1953, Jan.–Feb. Sess., p. 127).
    (57) An Act to declare valid and legal the establishment and organization of housing authorities and all bonds, notes, contracts, agreements, obligations, and undertakings of such authorities, approved March 23, 1939 (Ga. L. 1939, p. 126).
    (58) An Act to validate and declare legal all notes and bonds of housing authorities, and all civil proceedings, acts, and things heretofore undertaken, performed, or done with reference thereto, approved March 15, 1971 (Ga. L. 1971, p. 94).
    (59) An Act to validate and declare legal the creation and establishment of housing authorities and all bonds, notes, contracts, agreements, obligations, and undertakings of such authorities, approved February 14, 1951 (Ga. L. 1951, p. 127).
    (60) An Act to validate and declare legal the creation and establishment of housing authorities and all bonds, notes, contracts, agreements, obligations, and undertakings of such authorities, approved March 10, 1959 (Ga. L. 1959, p. 141).
    (61) An Act to validate and declare legal the creation and establishment of housing authorities and all bonds, contracts, agreements, notes, obligations, and undertakings of such authorities, approved March 9, 1962 (Ga. L. 1962, p. 734).
    (62) Section 1 of an Act to provide for the number of directors of railroad corporations, and to provide for the ratification of prior actions of boards of directors thereof, approved April 23, 1969 (Ga. L. 1969, p. 589).
    (63) An Act to provide that the seal of a notary need not be required to his attestation of deeds and to provide for the ratification of certain deeds, approved February 12, 1952 (Ga. L. 1952, p. 456).
    (64) An Act to create certain emeritus offices of the state, to provide for appointment, compensation, and duties, as amended, approved March 7, 1957 (Ga. L. 1957, p. 206).
    (65) A resolution giving assent of this state to an act of Congress of the United States providing for cooperative agricultural extension work, approved August 14, 1914 (Ga. L. 1914, p. 1243).
    (66) An Act to enlarge the powers of the Board of Trustees of Georgia Military College, approved March 24, 1939 (Ga. L. 1939, p. 410).
    (67) An Act to authorize the Toccoa Falls Institute to confer the degree of bachelor of arts in biblical education, approved March 24, 1939 (Ga. L. 1939, p. 412).
    (68) An Act designating Fort Valley State College as a land-grant college, approved February 25, 1949 (Ga. L. 1949, p. 1144).
    (69) An Act known as the “Georgia Professional Standards Act,” approved March 25, 1976 (Ga. L. 1976, p. 966).
    (70) An Act known as the “State School Building Authority for the Deaf and Blind Act,” approved February 21, 1951 (Ga. L. 1951, p. 637).
    (71) An Act known as the “Vocational Trade School Building Authority Act,” approved February 16, 1951 (Ga. L. 1951, p. 132).
    (72) Section 2 of an Act to amend Code Title 49, relating to guardians and wards, as amended, so as to enact Chapter 9 of Title 49 and to provide that a guardian need not be appointed for a minor or an incompetent person in certain instances, approved April 18, 1967 (Ga. L. 1967, p. 720).
    (73) Section 3 of an Act to amend Code Title 49, relating to guardians and wards, as amended, so as to revise, modernize, and supersede Code Chapter 49—6, relating to guardians of insane persons or persons otherwise mentally incapable of managing their estates, approved April 8, 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 1661).
    (74) Section 5 of an Act substantially revising the law relating to the joint-secretary of the state examining boards, as amended, in particular to provide an exception, approved April 22, 1981 (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1898).
    (75) Section 3 of an Act to amend Code Title 74, relating to parent and child, as amended, by enacting a new Code chapter relating to determination of paternity, approved April 1, 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 1374).
    (76) Section 7 of the “Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act of 1978,” approved April 5, 1978 (Ga. L. 1978, p. 1957).
    (77) Sections 1 and 49 of an Act substantially revising and modernizing certain laws of this state relating to family, domestic relations, and interfamilial duties, approved April 4, 1979 (Ga. L. 1979, p. 466).
    (78) Sections 29 and 30 of the “Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act,” approved February 20, 1958 (Ga. L. 1958, p. 34).
(Code 1981, § 1—1—10; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 1.)
Code Commission notes.—Ga. L. 1981, p. 3, effective April 1, 1982, and Ga. L. 1982, p. 2107, effective November 1, 1982, repealed and codified numerous general Acts of local application. See Index to Local and Special Laws and General Laws of Local Application, contained in Volume 42 of this Code.
Editor’s notes.—This Code section was created as part of the Code revision and was thus enacted by Ga. L. 1981, Ex. Sess., p. 8, (Code Enactment Act).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Editor’s notes.—In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1933, § 102—101, which adopted the Code of Georgia of 1933, are included in the annotations for this section.
Three-minute rule remains unchanged.—Although the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O. C. G. A.) specifically repealed the Code of 1933, the Rules of the Superior Court were not a part of that repealed code even though they “conveniently” appeared therein. The three-minute rule is one of long standing, originally promulgated pursuant to authority given by law and never specifically repealed by the General Assembly. As such, the three-minute rule remains viable and unchanged by the adoption of the O. C. G. A. Hinson v. Castellio, 168 Ga. App. 301, 308 S. E. 2d 705 (1983).
Statutory offense of failing to pay for agricultural products repealed.—The enactment of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated repealed the statute governing the offense of failing to pay for agricultural products, and thus, absent a saving provision, the prosecution for such an offense which had not reached final judgment was properly dismissed. State v. Fordham, 172 Ga. App. 853, 324 S. E. 2d 796 (1984).
Effect of Code’s adoption.—The legislative Act in adopting the 1933 Code had the force and effect of enacting into one statute all the provisions in that Code. Atlanta & W. P. R. R. v. Wise, 190 Ga. 254, 9 S. E. 2d 63 (1940).
Effect of Code’s adoption was to enact into one statute all provisions embraced in Code. Head v. Browning, 215 Ga. 263, 109 S. E. 2d 798 (1959).
Legislative intention.—Just as is the rule in construing statutes, where a section is plain, unambiguous, and positive, and is not capable of two constructions, the court is not authorized to construe it according to what is supposed to be the intention of the General Assembly. Atlanta & W. P. R. R. v. Wise, 190 Ga. 254, 9 S. E. 2d 63 (1940).
Section normally states existing law.—While it is true that the adoption by the General Assembly of the Code of 1933 amounted to a reenactment of each section thereof as contemporary statutes, it is also true that in construing the meaning of an ambiguous section, the original Act will be looked to in order to determine the true interpretation of the section; and in such an interpretation of an ambiguous section having the force of a statute, unless the contrary manifestly appears from the words employed, the language of such section should be construed as intending to state the previously existing law, and not to change it. State v. Camp, 189 Ga. 209, 6 S. E. 2d 299 (1939).
Unless contrary manifestly appears from words employed, section should be understood as stating existing law, and not changing it. Maddox v. First Nat’l Bank, 191 Ga. 106, 11 S. E. 2d 662 (1940).
Where, by the language of the section itself, its context, and by reason of the expressed subject matter under which it is grouped, it becomes proper and necessary to determine the true intent of the legislative body, it will be construed in the light of the source from which it came, to the extent that the language of the section itself may be compatible with such a construction; in such a case, where the section has been codified from a decision of the Supreme Court or of the Court of Appeals, the section will be construed, insofar as is compatible with its terms, so as to conform to the then existing law, rather than to change the rule in force at the time the Code was adopted. Atlanta & W. P. R. R. v. Wise, 190 Ga. 254, 9 S. E. 2d 63 (1940).
Where an intention to change appears, it must be given effect, not because of any power of legislation vested in the codifiers or the commission, but because of the adopting statute. Maddox v. First Nat’l Bank, 191 Ga. 106, 11 S. E. 2d 662 (1940).
Proposed change must be conspicuous so as to demand inference that it was noticed by the lawmaking body before the presumption against a change may be overthrown. Maddox v. First Nat’l Bank, 191 Ga. 106, 11 S. E. 2d 662 (1940).
Related sections should be construed to harmonize each other.—The adoption of the Code of 1933 amounted to a reenactment of each section as contemporary statutes of the state, and each section should be dealt with as though it were contained in the same Act of the General Assembly and should be construed as if it was a separate paragraph of the same statute. Therefore, sections relating to the same subject matter and codified at the same time should be construed, if possible, to harmonize with each other, and that construction should be adopted which will prevent a contradiction by one section of the other, so that both will be operative. Grand Trunk W. R. R. v. Barge, 75 Ga. App. 646, 44 S. E. 2d 281 (1947).
Sections in irreconcilable conflict.—Where two sections of the Code are found to be in irreconcilable conflict, and both sections are derived from Acts of the General Assembly, this conflict must be settled by resort to the original Acts from which the conflicting sections are derived, and that section which is derived from the later Act of the General Assembly must control. Thomas v. Hudson, 190 Ga. 622, 10 S. E. 2d 396 (1940).
Sovereign immunity now a matter of constitutional law.—Although sovereign immunity and official immunity under common law was given constitutional status, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX, it was the common law doctrines that were given constitutional status, and courts no longer have authority to abrogate or modify the doctrines. Lathrop v. Deal, 301 Ga. 408, 801 S. E. 2d 867 (2017).
Cited in Davis v. State, 172 Ga. App. 893, 325 S. E. 2d 926 (1984); Ballard v. Frey, 179 Ga. App. 455, 346 S. E. 2d 893 (1986); Devins v. Leafmore Forest Condominium Ass’n, 200 Ga. App. 158, 407 S. E. 2d 76 (1991); Denhardt v. 7 Bay Traders LLC, 296 Ga. App. 122, 673 S. E. 2d 621 (2009); State v. Turnquest, Ga., S. E. 2d (May 6, 2019).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Sections not codified in Official Code deemed repealed.—Neither former Code 1933, § 69—9904 nor Code 1933, Ch. 69—12 was codified in the new Official Code of Georgia Annotated; therefore, they are deemed repealed. 1983 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U83—15.
Citations in traffic citation form.—Since there exists no requirement that there be citations to any Code sections on the Uniform Traffic Citation Form, the Code of Georgia of 1933 citations presently set forth on the form are mere surplusage; therefore, their removal or repeal by the new Code of Georgia Annotated will have no effect on the validity of the form. 1982 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 82—28.