This legislation, another attempt at limiting home rule, prohibits counties and cities from adopting zoning ordinances which prohibit residential property owners from raising any crops, milk goats, chickens or rabbits so long as these are for personal consumption -- despite its impact on neighboring property values. A similar bill passed through the House Agriculture Committee last year.

This bill re-writes and modernizes Georgia's nearly 150 year old evidence code.  The new language largely tracks the Federal Rules of Evidence and applies to any motion, hearing or trial in Georgia's state courts on or after January 1, 2013.

The bill rewrites Title 24. It also modifies, in part, Titles 7-10, 14-17, 20, 22, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33-37, 40, 42-46, 48-50, 52, & 53.

HB 41 reduces the fee paid to the superior court clerks for preparing trial records for appeal from $10.00 per page to $1.00 per page. This bill also provides that the judicial operations fund fee will not apply to the issuance of certificate of appointment or reappointment of notaries public.

The clerk of superior court is required to provide an exact copy of the record (not to include the transcript) in all capital criminal cases where there was a conviction at no cost to the Attorney General's Office.

HB 100 creates a Georgia Tax Tribunal within the Office of State Administrative Hearings to hear only tax cases involving the Georgia Department of Revenue.

HB 110 sets forth procedures to which a county or city must adhere in developing registries for foreclosed and vacant real property. The intent of these registries is to identify responsible parties that can be held accountable for properly maintaining the properties so that surrounding neighborhoods are not adversely affected.  The bill defines foreclosed and vacant properties and imposes a cap on registration fees at $100 per registration and fines for noncompliance at no more than $1000. The bill also expressly allows local governments to require owners of the registered properties to update contact information for properties in the registry. While ACCG opposed earlier versions of the bill which were designed to make registries infeasible, HB 110 in its current form, with amendments adopted by the Senate, is acceptable.  The effective date is July 1, 2012 pending the Governor's signature.

HB 129 prohibits any transfer of property or covenant from including a requirement that anyone pay a fee for any future transfers of the property.  There are several exemptions to this prohibition, including transfers of property because of judicial foreclosure, non-judicial foreclosure and conveyances by court order or operation of law. 

This bill re-writes Georgia's law on ownership of dangerous and vicious dogs. If a dog bites, attacks or attempts to bite or attack a person or domestic animal, then the owner of the dog or the person providing care to the dog will be liable for any damages, including consequential damages.  

HB 146 does not allow anyone in a residentially zoned area to train dogs to attack humans (or house dogs that have been trained to attack humans) unless such a use is specifically allowed in the county's zoning regulations.

HB 146 does not allow a person convicted of a serious felony, felony dogfighting or animal cruelty, felony trafficking of illegal drugs to own or reside with a dog that has not been spayed or neutered or a dog that has been classified as dangerous or vicious until ten years after the felon has completed his or her sentence.

HB 146 allows any judge to order the euthanasia of a dog if the court finds, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, that the dog has killed or seriously injured a person or presents a danger to people.

HB 146 also rewrites the Dangerous Dog Control Law as the Responsible Dog Ownership Law.

Under current law, a magistrate may only be removed from office for cause or for failure to complete required training. The removal is by the Judicial Qualifications Commission. HB 149 would allow the chief magistrate to petition the chief superior court judge to remove an appointed magistrate with or without cause. If the majority of superior court judges agree, then the chief magistrate can terminate an appointed magistrate.

Local law or the superior court judges determine how many magistrates are authorized for the county. The statute currently provides that the number may not be reduced to remove a magistrate from office in the middle of a term. HB 149 removes this requirement, which would allow a magistrate to be removed in mid-term if the number of magistrates authorized for the county is decreased pursuant to local legislation or decision of the superior court judges.

HB 197 requires any hospital or other licensed health care facility which is not party to an emergency health care services contract with a sheriff or governing authority or its agent on July 1, 2011, shall be reimbursed no more than the applicable Georgia Medicaid rate for emergency health care and follow-up health care services provided to a detainee.

Under current law, certain fees are collected by the superior court clerks in conjunction with recording certain property records that are given to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority to help fund a state-wide uniform automated information system.  This funding mechanism is scheduled to terminate on July 1, 2014.  HB 198 eliminates this sunset. This bill was signed by the Governor on April 16, 2012.

HB 206 provides "whistle blower" protection to county employees who report fraud, waste or abuse to a supervisor or government agency.  Counties may not retaliate by taking or threatening to take adverse employment action such as discharge, suspension, demotion, negative performance evaluations or refusal to promote because an employee has reported violation of or noncompliance with a law or because an employee has reported fraud, waste or abuse to either a supervisor or to the county.  Similarly, the county may not create a hostile work environment for such an employee by allowing a continuous pattern and practice of negative or unprofessional behavior directed toward an employee who has reported violation of or noncompliance with a law or who has reported fraud, waste or abuse to either a supervisor or to the county.

For two years after an employee makes a complaint, if any adverse action or threats of adverse action are taken by the county or the employee's supervisor, it will be presumed that such action was done in retaliation for the complaint.  

An employee who knowingly and intentionally makes a false or misleading report of a an illegal action, fraud, waste or abuse may be found guilty of  a fine between $1,000 and $10,000 and/or imprisonment up to 1 year.

Current law provides that either party in a juvenile court hearing conducted by an associate juvenile can request a rehearing within five days of the associate judge's order. HB 272 removes the option for a rehearing.  Counties will hire associate judges to relieve caseloads on juvenile court judges. This will allow for a more efficient processing of these cases and will save county resources.

Under current law, the sheriff has the option of whether to allow private process servers to serve certain court papers in the county. To become a certified process server, a person must file an application with the sheriff. The sheriff has to approve a process server to operate in the county.

HB 284 removes the sheriff's authority to decide whether private process servers can serve papers in the county. The applications will now be handled by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

This bill prohibits counties from requiring bidders, offerors, contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers on county construction projects over $100,000 to enter into pre-hire agreements, labor agreements, collective bargaining agreements, etc. Also, counties cannot give preference to companies who have agreements with labor organizations.

This bill changes the way that an appeal of a quarantine or vaccine order issued during a public health state of emergency is made and heard.

This bill would not allow contracts requiring motor carrier transportation providers to indemnify someone from any loss or damage resulting from an intentional act or omission.

This bill creates a statewide jury list for the use by all counties of the state. The Council of Superior Court Clerks will be responsible for providing an accurate and up to date list of qualified jurors to each county. The cost is not to exceed .03 cents per name provided.

This bill provides that magistrate courts, state courts and other "county courts" that are served by a marshal may only have papers for the court served by a marshal, a deputy marshal or a process server approved by the marshal.

HB 534 lowers the population threshold before which a probate judge must be an attorney from 96,000 to 90,000.

Under current law, any citizen of Georgia may intervene in a bond validation proceeding.  This bill requires that a person be a "qualified intervenor." Citizens of Georgia who have been sanctioned or found to have engaged in unethical conduct by a court in a previous bond validation action may not intervene in bond validation proceedings.

This bill allows counties to adopt an ordinance or resolution giving a preference of up to 5% to local companies on construction projects over $100,000. The preference would apply whether bid method or proposal method is used. To get the local preference, a business must regularly maintain a physical presence in the county for at least one year. A new business may qualify if it is domiciled in the county and maintains a physical place of business in the county. The use of a post office box, site trailer, or temporary structure does not qualify as a "place of business."