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Volume 23, Issue 1 (Fall 2006)

DOMESTIC RELATIONS Emancipation of Minors: Establish the Conditions for Minors to Become Emancipated by Law; Provide That a Person be at least 18 years of age in order to contract for marriage except under limited Circumstances; Repeal an Exception to...

The Act serves two different seemingly independent purposes. First, the Act codifies Georgia's common law regarding the emancipation of minors. The Act creates nine new Code sections, which establish the conditions for minors to become emancipated, provides for court proceedings for emancipation, and address rescission of emancipation. The

EDUCATION Elementary and Secondary Education: Amend the Compulsory School Attendance Law, so as to Clarify Certain Provisions Relating to Mandatory Education; Provide That an Unemancipated Minor Older Than the Age of Mandatory Attendance May Not Withd...

The purpose of the Act is to improve the high school graduation rate in Georgia and to strengthen parent participation in student education. The Act mandates school attendance for children between their sixth and sixteenth birthdays. The Act requires that an unemancipated minor older than the mandatory attendance age have

EDUCATION Elementary and Secondary School Education Spending: Amend Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia to Require Local School Systems to Spend a Minimum Amount of Operating Funds on Direct Classroom Expenditures; Provide a Short Title; Provide ...

The Act requires schools to spend 65% of all funds on direct classroom expenditures. Direct classroom expenditures are defined as expenditures for activities related to student-teacher interaction including, but not limited to, teacher compensation; educational materials and supplies; classroom-related activities such as field trips, physical education, music, and arts; and

ELECTIONS Elections and Primaries Generally: Authorize State Election Board to Conduct Certain Educational Programs; Change Provisions Relating to Required Presentation of Identification by Voters; Specify Types of Identification Which May be Used; Pr...

The Act limits the forms of identification that are acceptable in order to register and to vote in the State of Georgia to the following: (1) Georgia driver's license; (2) Georgia "Voter Identification Card" or other government-issued identification card containing a photograph; (3) U.S. passport;

FOOD, DRUGS AND COSMETICS Utilization of Unused Prescription Drugs: Provide for the Establishment of a Program Through Which Unused Prescription Drugs May Be Distributed for Use by Medically Indigent Persons; Provide for a Pilot Program; Provide That ...

The Act creates a program to be jointly administered by the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy, the Department of Human Resources, and the Department of Human Health. The Act mandates that this program will distribute rather than discard prescription drugs prescribed to patients in health care facilities but not used

HEALTH Georgia Qualified Medication Aides Act: Provide for the Certification of Qualified Medication Aides; Provide for Powers and Responsibilities of the Georgia Board of Examiners of Licensed Practical Nurses; Provide for Certification Standards and...

The Act's purpose is to provide for the certification of qualified medication aides. The Act provides for the delegation of certain nursing tasks to qualified medication aides. The Act provides requirements for community living arrangements that utilize qualified medication aides. The Act also extends prescriptive powers and responsibilities

MOTOR VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC Operating While Under the Influence: Provide a Comprehensive Revision, Modernization, and Reform of the Laws of this State Relating to Operating Motor Vehicles While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Drugs, or Other Substances;...

The Bill proposed consolidation of existing DUI laws in Georgia and the addition of new sections to the Georgia Code that would address perceived ambiguities caused by recent Georgia court decisions. Specifically, the bill was intended to facilitate the collection of admissible evidence by law enforcement officers in DUI cases.

PROFESSIONS AND BUSINESS Registration of Immigration Assistance: Enact the "Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act"; Provide that it shall be Unlawful to Traffic a Person for Labor or Sexual Servitude; Provide for Valid Identification Documen...

The Act requires the State and local governments to use the Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlement (SAVE) program operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to verify the lawful presence of anyone 18 or older who applies for taxpayer-funded benefits. The Act requires the State and local governments

CRIMES AND OFFENSES Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Person...

The Act makes it a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature to commit an assault against a pregnant female. The Act provides a definition for the phrase 'unborn child': A member of the species homo sapiens at any state of development who is carried in the womb.

CRIMES AND OFFENSES Defenses to Criminal Prosecutions: Provide That Person Who Is Attacked Has No Duty to Retreat; Provide Immunity from Prosecution

The Act clarifies and amends the Georgia law regarding the justifiable use of deadly force and duty to retreat. Its purposes are to extend the protections of the castle doctrine beyond one's home, vehicle and business to anywhere one has the legal right to be; to codify explicitly

CRIMES AND OFFENSES Forgery and Fraudulent Practices: Enact the Georgia Child, Family, and School Communications Protection Act; Provide a Short Title; Provide for Definitions; Create a Service to Protect Child, Family, and School Communications; Prov...

The bill as passed by the Senate would create a registry of electronic contact points for children and prevent anyone wishing to send messages advertising content that is illegal for a minor to purchase, view, possess, participate in or receive from sending to a registered contact point. The system would

CRIMES AND OFFENSES Sexual Offenses: Change Provisions Relating to Sexual Offenders; Change Punishment Provisions, Registration Requirements, and Residency Requirements for Sexual Offenders; Add a Provision Relating to Statutory Aggravating Circumsta...

The purpose of the Act is to protect the public from recidivist sexual offenders, sexual offenders who use physical violence, and sexual offenders who prey on children. The Act ensures that decisions to release sexual predators into the community are not made on the basis of inadequate space. The Act

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Courts and Legal Defense for Indigents: Clarify and Change Provisions Relating to Fees and Collection of Fees for Indigent Defense Services; Provide that Local Victim Assistance Funds Collected by the Courts Shall be Paid Directly t...

The Bill clarifies and changes provisions related to fees and the collection of fees for indigent defense services. The Bill provides that local victim assistance funds collected by the courts shall be paid directly to the county governing authority or the district attorney. Further, the Bill provides that the Criminal

DOMESTIC RELATIONS Alimony and Child Support: Change Provisions Relating to the Calculation of Child Support; Clarify the Appeal Process in Certain Domestic Relations Cases; Clarify the Calculation of the Amount of Interest on Arrearage of Child Suppo...

The Act provides presumptive tables for child support based on the income shares model, taking into consideration both parents' gross income in establishing the child support obligation of the non-custodial parent, and instructs the trier of fact how to calculate each parent's gross income. It provides for