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Volume 15, Issue 1 (Fall 1998)

PENAL INSTITUTIONS Sentence and Punishment: Impose Mandatory Imprisonment Term for Serious Violent Felonies; Deny First Offender Treatment to Those Persons Committing Serious Violent Felonies

The Act imposes a mandatory term of imprisonment of not less than ten years for a defendant who commits a serious violent felony. The Act further provides that no portion of the ten-year sentence may be suspended, stayed, or reduced by any form of parole or commutation. The seven serious

COURTS Juvenile Proceedings, Parental Rights: Provide for Appointment of Counsel or Court Appointed Special Advocate as Guardian Ad Litem for a Minor in Deprivation Cases

The Act authorizes the appointment of counsel or a court appointed special advocate to act as a guardian ad litem for a minor in deprivation cases. The Act defines a court appointed special advocate as a carefully selected and trained volunteer whom a juvenile court appoints to serve as the

WATERS OF THE STATE, PORTS, AND WATECRAFTS Registration, Operation, and Sale of Watercraft: Enact Certain Provisions Relating to Persons Convicted of Operating a Moving Vessel, Moving Water Skis, Moving Aquaplane, Moving Surfboard, or Personal Watercra...

The Act amends the Georgia Registration, Operation, and Sale of Watercraft Act by (1) making it an offense for a person under the age of twenty-one to operate a vessel with a blood alcohol content of 0.02 grams or more and (2) creating a separate offense of child endangerment

COURTS Juvenile Proceedings, Parental Rights: Provide Guidance for Family Reunification, Termination of Parental Rights, and Permanent Placement of Children Removed from the Home

The Act brings state law into compliance with federal guidelines and qualifies the state for funding under the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. It establishes that the safety and welfare of a child is the paramount consideration in a court's decision to remove a child

COMMERCE AND TRADE Selling and Other Trade Practices: Prohibit Nonlocal Businesses from Listing a Local Telephone Number Under Certain Circumstances; Prohibit Certain Practices Relating to Telemarketing Transactions; Provide for Civil and Criminal Pena...

The Act generally addresses deceptive and fraudulent practices involved in telemarketing transactions. It prohibits nonlocal businesses from listing a local telephone number in any nonclassified local directory without also listing their nonlocal address when calls are routinely forwarded to the nonlocal address. The Act also prohibits telemarketers from engaging in

HEALTH Women's Health: Require Insurers to Cover Chlamydia Screening Tests for Women Twenty-Nine Years of Age or Younger as Part of Certain Medical Insurance

The Act sets forth legislative findings that chlamydia causes serious complications in women, that it may cause complications for their infants, and that chlamydia may go undetected but is easily curable. The Act requires insurers authorized to issue certain individual or group accident and sickness benefit plans, contracts, or policies,

JUDICIAL SALES Advertisement: Require that Properties Subject to Judicial Sale Be Listed and Advertised by Legal Description

The Act changes the advertising requirements for real property listed for judicial sale. The Act requires that judicial sale notices advertising the availability of real property include the legal description of the property. The Act also provides that judicial sale notices may include the street address of the property. Download

STATE GOVERNMENT Tort Liability of the State and Its Political Subdivisions: Provide Exceptions to State Liability; Provide that Political Subdivisions of the State Shall Have No Liability for Computer Errors Resulting from Failure or Malfunction of Co...

The Act grants immunity, under certain circumstances, to both the State of Georgia and to county and municipal governments for computer errors related to the processing of dates and times. Download PDF

REVENUE AND TAXATION Income Taxes: Provide for Income Tax Credits for Purchase or Lease of Certain New Low-Emission Vehicles or Conversion of Conventionally Fueled Vehicles

The Act provides for an income tax credit to individuals and corporations who lease or purchase a new low-emission vehicle or who convert an existing conventionally fueled vehicle to a low emission vehicle on or after January 1, 1998. The new or converted vehicle must be registered in an area

LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Workers' Compensation: Provide Penalties for Fraudulently Received Benefits; Provide for the Admission of Lab Results in Administrative Law Hearings; Provide Method of Determining Temporary Partial Benefits; Eliminate Tim...

The Act makes a variety of changes to Georgia's workers' compensation law. First, the Act increases the penalties to be paid by employees who fraudulently retain income benefits to which they are not entitled. The Act also amends the workers' compensation law as it applies to

INSURANCE Insurance Generally: Prohibit Disparate Insurance Coverage Between Physical Disorders and Mental Health Disorders Under Certain Conditions

The Act provides for mental health parity under certain conditions. The Act applies to individual, small group, and large group policies; self-insured companies are exempted from the Act. In general, an employer is not required to offer mental health insurance coverage. However, if such coverage is offered, the Act provides

PUBLIC UTILITIES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Telephone and Telegraph Service: Prohibit Certain Telephone Solicitations to Residential Subscribers Who Have Given Notice of Their Objection to the Public Service Commission; Provide for Legislative Findings ...

The Act prohibits telephone solicitations to residential telephone subscribers who indicate their opposition to such solicitations. Residents who do not wish to receive telephone solicitations may pay a fee to have their phone number entered into a data base. The Georgia Public Service Commission shall establish this data base and

LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Workers' Compensation: Provide for Payment by Group Self-Insurers for Examinations by Commissioner to Verify the Solvency of Group Self-Insurance Workers' Compensation Funds

The Act provides that the State Commissioner of Insurance can choose either to contract with private examiners or use the Commissioner's own staff to examine group self-insurance workers' compensation funds. The Act further provides that the workers' compensation fund will pay for the examination. Download PDF

EMINENT DOMAIN Condemnation Procedure Generally: Provide for Award of Reasonable Expenses in Condemnation Cases; Provide for Substantial Revision of Provisions Relating to Special Masters in Condemnation Cases; Provide for Special Master Panels; Provid...

The Act impacts the three statutorily defined methods of condemnation proceedings previously established by Georgia law. The three condemnation methods are: (1) the three assessor method; (2) the special master method; and (3) the declaration of taking method.' In condemnation proceedings over which assessors preside, the Act establishes minimal

EDUCATION Elementary and Secondary Education: Provide for Charter School Status; Remove Certain Limitations Regarding Advance Capital Outlay Funding for Construction Projects to Consolidate or Reorganize Schools; Provide for Contents of Petition Char...

The Act provides a means for local schools to substitute an academic and/or vocational performance-based contract, called a charter, for state and local rules, regulations, policies, and procedures governing public schools. The Act allows private individuals, private organizations, or state or local public entities to establish a local school

INSURANCE Fraud: Provide for Increased Penalties for Felony Insurance Fraud. Rules and Regulations: Change Certain Provisions Relating to Rules and Regulations; Change Certain Provisions Relating to Required Insurance Policy Provisions. Uninsured M...

The Act amends eleven Code sections relating to insurance. The Act classifies as "felonies" all acts that meet the current definition of insurance fraud and increases the maximum penalty for insurance fraud to ten years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine. The Act prohibits the Insurance Commissioner