Georgia Code
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 15-6-11. Electronic Filings of Pleadings and Documents; Electronic Payments and Remittances; Access; Public Disclosure

History. Code 1981, § 15-6-11 , enacted by Ga. L. 2016, p. 242, § 2/SB 262; Ga. L. 2018, p. 550, § 1-1/SB 407; Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 6-1/HB 239; Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 3/SB 441.
The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, substituted the present provisions of this Code section for the former provisions, which read: “By court rule or standing order, any superior court may provide for the filing of pleadings and any other documents and for the acceptance of payments and remittances by electronic means. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to prevent a clerk’s acceptance of payments and remittances by electronic means under the clerk’s own authority.”
The 2019 amendment, effective May 7, 2019, rewrote paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b).
The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, designated the existing provisions of subsection (a) as paragraph (a)(1), substituted “in effect on June 30, 2022” for “on and after January 1, 2019” in paragraph (a)(1), and added paragraph (a)(2).
Editor’s notes.
Former Code Section 15-6-11, pertaining to authority of certain courts to sit in sections, the clerk’s duties, and the discretion of judges, was repealed by Ga. L. 1981, p. 3, § 2, effective April 1, 1982. The former Code section was based on Ga. L. 1878-79, p. 149, §§ 1-4; Code 1882, §§ 247a, 247b, 247c, 247d; Civil Code 1895, §§ 4335, 4336, 4337, 4338; Civil Code 1910, §§ 4866, 4867, 4868, 4869.
Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 1/SB 441, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “(a) The General Assembly finds that:
“(1) The state’s current system for sharing criminal case data is not adequate to provide to all appropriately interested parties, including, but not limited to, law enforcement agencies and officers, courts, crime victims and other impacted individuals, housing providers, and employers, complete criminal case data;
“(2) One recent report indicates there may be as many as 7 million criminal charges without a final disposition indicated, and, of those, as many as 5.4 million criminal charges have languished for years;
“(3) Georgia’s citizens and businesses are harmed by incomplete criminal case data. For example, in thousands of cases, as a result of incomplete criminal case data, citizens’ employability and housing opportunities have been negatively impacted; and
“(4) A more uniform, modern system and framework for handling criminal case data will support the state in meeting its obligations to victims to keep them informed as their perpetrators make their way through the criminal justice system.
“(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that criminal case data be complete and accurately reported to the appropriate state data base and be accessible to state and local criminal justice agencies, employers, housing providers, victims, and all citizens.”
Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 2/SB 441, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Criminal Records Responsibility Act.’”
Law reviews.
For article on the 2018 amendment of this Code section, see 35 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 45 (2018).
For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2019).