Researching Georgia Law (2006 Edition)

• Publication year: 2010

Georgia State University Law Review

Volume 22 , „

Article 2

Issue 2 Winter 2005

12-1-2005

Researching Georgia Law (2006 Edition)

Nancy P. Johnson NancyJ. Adams Elizabeth G. Adelman

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Recommended Citation

Johnson, Nancy P.; Adams, Nancy J.; and Adelman, Elizabeth G. (2005) "Researching Georgia Law (2006 Edition)," Georgia State

University Law Review: Vol. 22: Iss. 2, Article 2.

Available at: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/gsulr/vol22/iss2/2

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Law Publications at Digital Archive @ GSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Georgia State University Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Archive @ GSU. For more information, please contact digitalarchive@gsu.edu.

RESEARCHING GEORGIA LAW (2006 EDITION)

Nancy P. Johnson* Nancy J. Adams Elizabeth G. Adelman

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. Constitutional Law

II. Statutory Law

A. Official Code of Georgia Annotated

B. West's Code of Georgia Annotated

C. Session Laws - Georgia Laws

D. Uniform Laws

E. Bills, Journals, and Other Legislative Documents

F. Legislative Histories

G. Ordinances

III. Judiciary and Case Law

A. Case Law Reports

B. Georgia Reports and Georgia Appeals Reports

C. West's South Eastern Reporter

D. West's Georgia Cases

E. Current Case Law and Court Websites

F. Trial Level Reporter

G. Parallel Citations

H. Finding Case Law

I. Court Rules

IV. ClTATORS

A. Print Citators

B. Online Citators

* Nancy P. Johnson, Law Librarian, Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law Library; Nancy J. Adams, Senior Reference Librarian, Georgia State University College of Law Library; Elizabeth G. Adelman, Head of Public Services, Georgia State University College of Law Library. The authors would like to thank graduate research assistants Erin Fortney, Kristopher Klein, and Kasey Libby for their contributions during the preparation of this article.

381

C. Online Case Citators

D. Online Statutory Citators

E. Citators for Other Legal Materials

V. Administrative Law

A. Rules

B. Administrative Decisions

C. Attorney General Decisions

D. Governor's Executive Orders and Proclamation

VI. Legal Ethics Research

VII. Secondary Sources

VIII. Filings

IX. Subject Bibliography of Georgia Practice Materials

Introduction

This Article describes the paper and electronic sources that attorneys, paralegals, and students use in researching Georgia law. Increasingly, researchers use electronic sources; however, Georgia legal researchers still depend heavily on traditional print research sources, such as the codes and the Georgia practice materials. Law librarians and legal research instructors respond to a myriad of questions from both the academic community and the practicing bar.

This Article shares knowledge of Georgia legal materials and research techniques. Part I discusses constitutional law resources. Part II highlights statutory law resources. Part III focuses on judiciary and case law resources. Part IV shares information on citator resources. Part V describes administrative law resources. Part VI provides insight on legal ethics research. Part VII emphasizes secondary sources. Part VIII explains filings resources. Finally, Part LX presents a bibliography of Georgia practice materials.

2005] RESEARCHING GEORGIA LAW 383

I. Constitutional Law

Georgia's present constitution, adopted November 1982 and effective July 1983, is the latest of eleven constitutions, with the first one written in 1777.¹ The current 1983 Georgia Constitution includes annotations to decisions, opinions of the attorney general, citations to law review articles, and citations to comparable 1976 provisions. A researcher may locate this information by using Volume 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) or Volumes 2 and 3 of the West's Code of Georgia Annotated (Ga. Code Ann.). These sources also include historical notes referring to the presence or absence of similar provisions in earlier documents that may be useful for research purposes. Volume 41 of O.C.G.A. provides tables comparing each provision of the earlier constitutions (1877, 1945, and 1976) to the 1983 Constitution.

Article X of the Georgia Constitution stipulates amendment procedures.² Georgia Laws, the session laws, include resolutions of the General Assembly that propose amendments to the Georgia Constitution. Once the legislature and Governor approve the amendments, the constitution incorporates the text of the amendments.³

As with federal constitutional research, judicial interpretation of the Georgia Constitution is voluminous. The O.C.G.A. and Ga. Code Ann. make available citations to court decisions and attorney general opinions interpreting the Georgia Constitutions. A researcher may also find Georgia and federal cases and other sources citing the Georgia Constitution under the article and section by using Shepard's and KeyCite.

Although citing the Georgia Constitution by referencing a code section would be more convenient, it is necessary to cite by article, section, and paragraph because the legislature has never codified the

1. Melvin B. Hill, Jr., The Georgia State Constitution : A Reference Guide 1-15(1994).

2. See Ga. CONST, art. X, § 1, para. 2 (providing for the publication of amendments).

3. See generally Melvin B. Hill, Jr., The Georgia State Constitution: A Reference Guide (1994) (discussing the history of the state's constitutional development and providing a section-by-section analysis of the current constitution).

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Georgia Constitution of 1983.⁴ Therefore, the correct citation format for the current Georgia Constitution is Ga. Const, art. I, § 9, para. 20.

A. Fee Sources of the Georgia Constitution Online

CASEMAKER - Free to members of the State Bar of Georgia
http://www.gabar.org
Content	Georgia Constitution without annotations
Coverage	Current constitution
Update	Ten days from electronic posting of change
LEXISNEXIS
http://www.lexis.com
Content	Georgia Constitution with annotations
Coverage	Current constitution
Update	Quarterly
LOISLAW
http://www.loislaw.com
Content	Georgia Constitution without annotations
Coverage	Current constitution
Update	Click on Currency
WESTLAW
http://www.westlaw.com
Content	Georgia Constitution with annotations
Coverage	Current constitution
Update	Check Scope information for currency

B. Free Sources of the Georgia Constitution Online

GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/2003_constitution.pdf
Content	Georgia Constitution without annotations in .pdf
Coverage	Revised 2005
Update	As revised
Notes	Also includes constitutional amendments

4. See DeKalb County v. Post Prop., Inc., 263 S.E.2d 905,908 (Ga. 1980) (stating "the provision of the Constitution, which it is claimed has been violated must be clearly designated.").

2005] RESEARCHING GEORGIA LAW 385

II. Statutory Law

Finding a Georgia statute is a simple task. Georgia has two annotated codes, the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), published by LexisNexis, and West's Code of Georgia Annotated (Ga. Code Ann.), published by Thomson/West. The Official Code of Georgia Annotated is the code legislatively sanctioned as official.⁵ However, a researcher should check both sources if accessible since each source might have different annotations and citations to secondary materials.

Until the early 1980's, the Harrison Company published the only code, Georgia Code Annotated (commonly referred to as the Code of 1933).⁶ However, in 1976 the Code Revision Study Committee recommended a complete revision of the code.⁷ In 1977, the General Assembly created a Code Revision Committee to initiate work on a new code for Georgia.⁸ The legislature contracted with the Michie Company, which LexisNexis later acquired, to work with the state in preparing a new official code.⁹ During a special session in 1981, the General Assembly adopted the results of this effort, the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.™ This code became effective on November 1, 1982.¹¹

The defunct, unofficial Georgia Code Annotated published by Harrison, which Thomson/West later acquired, ceased publication in 2002. The two codes - the old Georgia Code Annotated and O.C.G.A. - use different numbering systems, so attorneys should be careful to cite to the official code, O.C.G.A.¹³

5. See O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1 (2002).

6. See State v. Harrison Co., 548 F. Supp. 110, 112 (N.D. Ga. 1982), vacated, 559 F. Supp. 37 (N.D. Ga. 1983).

7. 1976 Ga. Laws 739.

8. 1977 Ga. Laws 922 (as amended at 1978 Ga. Laws 230).

9. See Terry A. McKenzie, The Making of a New Code, 18 Ga. St. B.J. 102,102 (1982).

10. Id. at 103.

11. 1981 Ga. Laws, Ex. Sess. 8.

12. See generally Harrison Co. v. Code Revision Comm'n, 260 S.E.2d 30 (Ga. 1979) (explaining an unsuccessful attempt by the Harrison Company, in a suit against the Code Commission, to halt publication of the code by the Mitchie Company).

13. See State v. Harrison Co., 548 F. Supp. 110, 114-15 (N.D. Ga. 1982), vacated, 559 F. Supp. 37 (N.D. Ga. 1983).

Comparison of the Two Current Georgia Codes
	Official Code of Georgia Annotated-O.C.G.A.	West's Code of Georgia Annotated-Ga. Code Ann.
Official/Unofficial	Official	Unofficial
Number of volumes	44	65
Citation	Title-chapter-section Three-unit numbering system	Title-chapter-section Three-unit numbering system
Supplementation	Annual pocket parts Advance Legislative Service Advance Annotation Service (new annotations only)	Annual pocket parts Georgia Legislative Service Interim Annotation Service (new annotations only)
Notes of Decisions	Decisions of Georgia state and federal cases arising in Georgia and Attorney General Opinions	Decisions of Georgia state and federal cases...