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Volume 22, Issue 1 (Fall 2005)

EDUCATION Elementary and Secondary Education: Amend the "Quality Basic Education Act"; Provide for Legislative Findings; Provide for the Establishment of the "Georgia Master Teacher Program"; Provide for the Establishment of Criteria for Master Teache...

The Act establishes a statewide Master Teacher Program to identify and recognize certain teachers who have exhibited professional excellence. The Act rewards teachers through professional recognition and potential monetary incentives in conjunction with an eligible master teacher's involvement with the Academic Coach Program. Further, the Act limits the

COMMERCE AND TRADE Selling and Other Trade Practices: Provide Legislative Findings; Provide Definitions; Require Information Brokers to Give Notice to Consumers of Certain Security Breaches; Provide for Related Matters; Provide an Effective Date; Repe...

The Georgia General Assembly found that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in Georgia and that the privacy of Georgia citizens is greatly at risk due to the large amount of information collected from individuals every day. The Act requires information brokers that collect and maintain personal

COURTS Juries: Enact the "Criminal Justice Act of 2005"; Provide for a Short Title; Provide that the Denial of a Defendant's Motion to Recuse May Be Subject to Interlocutory Appeal; Provide that the State May Appeal from an Order, Decision, or Judgmen...

The Act provides the defense and the prosecution with an equal number of peremptory strikes in criminal trials. The Act establishes the number of peremptory challenges at three strikes for misdemeanors, nine strikes for felonies, and fifteen strikes for cases seeking the death penalty. The Act gives the prosecuting attorney

HEALTH Women's Right to Know Act: Require Certain Types of Identification to be Presented in Order for a Physician to Perform an Abortion; Change Provisions Relating to Required Participation by or Notice to Parents, Guardians, and Others and Court Pr...

The Act known generally as the "Woman's Right to Know Act," requires that physicians inform women who are seeking an abortion, at least 24-hours prior to the abortion, of particular medical risks associated with the procedure, the probable gestational age of the unborn child, the medical

LOCAL GOVERNMENT Act to Incorporate the City of Sandy Springs; Incorporate the City of Sandy Springs in Fulton County; Provide for a Charter for the City of Sandy Springs; Provide for Incorporation, Boundaries, and Powers of the City; Provide for Gener...

The bill provides for a charter for the City of Sandy Springs. Most importantly, the bill provides for a referendum whereby the citizens of Sandy Springs will vote to decide whether to become an independent city. The bill outlines the boundaries of Sandy Springs and provides for a governing authority

LOCAL GOVERNMENT Community Greenspace Preservation: Enact the "Georgia Land Conservation Act"; Provide for State and Local Government Activities with Respect to Land Conservation; State Legislative Intent; Define Terms; Create the Georgia Land Conserv...

The Act replaces the Community Greenspace Program. Its purpose is to provide a mechanism to encourage cities, counties, and private partners to protect the state's natural resources. The Act establishes a competitive grant and loan program for preservation of land or conservation easements on land. The Act establishes

TORTS AND CIVIL PRACTICE Civil Practice and Procedure Generally: Change Provisions Relating to Venue in Actions with Joint Defendants; Provide That Courts of This State May Under Certain Circumstances Decline to Decide Cases Under the Doctrine of Foru...

The Act provides for civil justice reform in Georgia, amending Titles 9, 24, 33, 43, and 51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The Act addresses venue for cases involving joint defendants and the doctrine of forum non conveniens. It also amends procedures relating to affidavits in professional malpractice

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA A Resolution: Amend the Constitution of the State of Georgia to Prevent Discrimination in the Public Funding of Social Services by Allowing Religious or Sectarian Organizations to Receive Public Aid, Directly or Ind...

The amendment would have amended the Georgia Constitution to allow religious and sectarian organizations to receive state funding for social services. Currently, such organizations cannot receive state funding for social services. Download PDF

HEALTH Health: Enact the "Georgia Smokefree Air Act of 2005"; Provide for Definitions; Prohibit Smoking in Certain Facilities and Areas; Provide for Exceptions; Provide That Entire Establishments, Facilities, or Outdoor Areas Shall Be Nonsmoking; Provi...

The Act prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places in Georgia. The Act exempts private residences, hotel and motel rooms (as long as the hotel or motel does not designate more than 20% of the rooms as smoking), retail tobacco stores, long term care facilities, outdoor areas of employment, smoking

STATE GOVERNMENT Open and Public Meetings: Provide a New Exclusion from Open Meeting Requirements; Provide a New Exemption from Public Records Inspection for Certain Records of an Agency Engaged in a Program of Economic Development; Provide for Related...

The bill would have created a new exemption from the open records requirements for records of agencies that were engaged in a economic development program and a parallel exclusion from open meeting requirements for agency meetings that discuss any of the newly exempted records. The bill excluded records that would

The Following Article Addresses a Package of Immigration Bills That Would Have Affected a Variety of Titles in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated

HR 256 - The resolution would have proposed an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Georgia to bar undocumented immigrants from the following: receiving any public services provided by the state, receiving any publicly funded health care services provided by the state, accessing public elementary and secondary schools

CRIMES AND OFFENSES Offenses Against Public Health and Morals: Provide That a Video Game Retailer Shall Display a Sign Explaining Each Rating System Which Appears on a Video Game Offered by Such Retailer; Provide That it Shall Be Unlawful for Any Perso...

The Act requires video game retailers to display a sign explaining each rating system that appears on video games the retailers offer. SB 105 would have made it unlawful to knowingly sell, rent, or loan for monetary consideration any excessively violent video game or video game containing material which is