You may not be interested in the structure of Georgia’s government, but sooner or later you’ll have to deal with one or more departments. And whether you like it or not, the government and the laws passed by the legislature affect everyone’s life. So here’s the basic information you need to know.
The Georgia Constitution is the framework of state government. Only the United States Constitution is a higher authority. The last revision of the Georgia Constitution was in 1983. Any amendment must be approved by two-thirds of the State House of Representatives and the State Senate and by a majority of the voters in the next general election.
Governor: The governor, the chief official of the executive branch, is elected to a four-year term. Only two successive four-year terms are allowed. The governor can make appointments to state agencies, propose laws and budgets for the legislature to consider, and veto laws that are passed.
Lieutenant governor: The lieutenant governor presides over the State Senate and carries out any other duties assigned by the governor.
Attorney general: Duties of the attorney general include acting as legal adviser for state agencies, state departments, and the governor; representing the state in capital felony appeals before the Supreme Court of Georgia; representing the state in all civil cases before the court; and conducting special investigations into questionable activity concerning stage agencies, state departments, and persons or companies that have done business with the state of Georgia.
Department of Agriculture: Established in 1874, this department has the missions of protecting and promoting agriculture and consumer interests and ensuring that agricultural products are safe. The department also publishes the Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin, which is available by mail and online.
Department of Labor: This department is responsible for unemployment insurance, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation programs. It also oversees child labor issues and inspects amusement park and carnival rides, boilers, and pressure vessels.
Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner: This office is responsible for handling consumer questions and complaints about insurance. The state fire marshal handles building inspections, manufactured housing inspections, hazardous materials inspections, and licensing.
Public Service Commission: This commission votes on requests for rate hikes by electric, natural gas, telecommunications, and transportation companies and regulates these companies to ensure that consumers are getting reliable and reasonably priced services.
Secretary of State: This office handles professional licensing, voter registration, and balloting and is responsible for the Georgia State Archives, which preserves valuable historical documents and photographs.
State School Superintendent: The superintendent and the Georgia Department of Education oversee public education and are responsible for ensuring that state and federal funds to schools are properly allocated.
The Georgia General Assembly was formed in 1777 as a single house but became the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1789. All appropriations bills originate in the House and must be approved by both the House and the Senate before being sent to the governor. The Senate also must approve the governor’s appointments.
The House has 180 members, while the Senate has 56. All are elected to two-year terms. The speaker of the House presides over that body and is elected every two years by the members. The lieutenant governor is the presiding officer of the Senate.
Both the Senate and the House are made up of committees that consider legislation and report on it before it can be considered by all the members on the chamber floor.
The Georgia General Assembly meets annually beginning the second Monday in January and ending in mid-March. One of the most important functions of the legislature is to enact a budget that sets funding for all state programs.
Judges in Georgia’s judicial system are popularly elected by the state’s voters. The system consists of courts of limited, general, and appellate jurisdiction.
Courts of limited jurisdiction include magistrate courts, which try violations of county ordinances and civil cases of less than $15,000. Probate courts administer estates. State courts hear civil cases and misdemeanor criminal cases. Juvenile courts consider cases involving youths under 17. Each county has its own magistrate, probate court, and juvenile court. Approximately 60 counties have a state court. Magistrate, probate, and juvenile judges decide cases without a jury, but state courts can provide a jury trial. Decisions of magistrates and probate judges can be appealed to superior court. Decisions of juvenile and state courts are appealed to appellate courts.
Criminal cases, civil cases, and all felonies are tried in superior court. Georgia has 48 superior court circuits, each circuit encompassing up to eight counties. Superior court must meet at least twice a year in each county in the circuit.
The two main courts of appellate jurisdiction are the court of appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. The court of appeals has 12 judges and can consider any appeal from a trial court. The Georgia Supreme Court consists of seven justices who can hear any appeal involving the constitutionality of any law, as well as any cases requested by the court of appeals.
Georgia’s 159 counties are the second-highest number of any state in the country (Texas has 254). The state’s four consolidated city-counties are Athens (Clarke County), Augusta (Richmond County), Columbus (Muscogee County), and Cusseta (Chattahoochee County). Counties historically were created with the idea that a farmer should be able to get to the county seat and back in one day by wagon or on horseback. Additional counties were created after automobiles became common, and still others were created for political reasons.
Each county’s government—usually a board of commissioners—is allowed under the Georgia Constitution to deal with any local matters, such as zoning and schools.
Georgia is represented by two senators and 13 members of Congress. Senators are elected every six years and congressmen every two years. For a list of elected officials, visit www.sos.georgia.gov.
Georgians are eligible to vote in any election if they are at least 18 years old, United States citizens, and legal residents of Georgia and the county in which they’re voting. If you’re not registered to vote, you can do so at your county’s voter registration office, by motor voter registration, by mail-in application, or online at www.sos.georgia.gov.
One of the following forms of photo ID is required: a driver’s license, even if expired; a valid state- or federal-government-issued ID, including free voter IDs issued by county registrars and the Georgia Department of Driver Services; a valid United States passport; a valid employee ID issued by a branch, department, or agency of the United States government, Georgia, or a county or municipality; a valid United States military ID; or a valid tribal ID.
No, you do not have to pass a quiz on the state’s symbols to qualify as a resident, but knowing that the green tree frog is the official amphibian and that the brown thrasher is the state bird will impress native Georgians. You’ll impress them even more if you can recite the Georgian’s Creed:
Accepting, as I do, the principles upon which Georgia was founded, not for self but others;—its Democratic form of Government, based on “Wisdom, Justice and Moderation”;—its natural resources;—its Educational, Social and Religious advantages, making it a most desirable place to live—I will strive to be a pure upright Citizen, rejecting the evils—loving and emulating the good.
I further believe it is my duty to defend it against all enemies, to honor and obey its laws, to apply the Golden Rule in all my dealings with my fellow Citizens.
I feel a sense of pride in the history and heroic deeds accomplished by my forebears, and shall endeavor to so live that my State will be proud of me for doing my bit to make my State a better Commonwealth for future generations.
If you don’t want to go that far, you can at least impress your fifth-grade son or daughter by knowing the following—
“Official” State Symbols, Facts, and Events
| Art museum | Georgia Museum of Art |
| Ballet | Atlanta Ballet |
| Beef cookoff | “Shoot the Bull” barbecue at the Hawkinsville Civitan Club |
| Butterfly | Swallowtail |
| Crop | Peanut |
| Fish | Largemouth bass |
| Flower | Cherokee rose |
| Folk dance | Square dance |
| Folklife play | Swamp Gravy |
| Fossil | Shark tooth |
| Fruit | Peach |
| Game bird | Bobwhite quail |
| Gem | Quartz |
| Historic drama | The Reach of Song |
| Insect | Honeybee |
| Marine mammal | Right whale |
| Mineral | Staurolite |
| Motto | “Wisdom, justice and moderation” |
| Musical theater | Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival |
| Poet laureate | David Bottoms |
| Pork cookoff | Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig |
| Possum | Pogo |
| Prepared food | Grits |
| Reptile | Gopher tortoise |
| Seashell | Knobbed whelk |
| Song | “Georgia on My Mind” |
| Tartan | Georgia tartan |
| Theater | Springer Opera House |
| Tree | Live oak |
| Vegetable | Vidalia sweet onion |
| Waltz | “Our Georgia” |
| Wildflower | Azalea |
The new official state flag was created on May 8, 2003, the third in a period of 27 months, after a flag flap that probably influenced a gubernatorial election. Critics of the earlier flags protested the use of the Confederate battle flag as part of Georgia’s state flag. The current flag, based on the first national flag of the Confederacy, consists of three horizontal bars of equal width—two red bars separated by a white bar. A square blue canton is in the upper left corner. A circle of 13 white stars in the center symbolizes Georgia and the 12 other original colonies. Georgia’s coat of arms is within the circle of stars above the words “In God We Trust,” both in gold.
RESOURCES
More information about the state government is available by visiting www.georgia.gov or the New Georgia Encyclopedia at www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.