Bill Text: GA SB429 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Courts; increase number of judges; Supreme Court/Court of Appeals; create/provide funding of a judicial operations fund
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-17 - Senate Read and Referred [SB429 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-SB429-Introduced.html
10 LC 28
5088
Senate
Bill 429
By:
Senators Smith of the 52nd, Cowsert of the 46th, Hamrick of the 30th, Wiles of
the 37th, Harp of the 29th and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to courts, so
as to increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court to nine Justices; to
increase the number of Judges of the Court of Appeals to 15 Judges; to create
and provide for the funding of a judicial operations fund; to provide for
related matters; to provide for effective dates and applicability; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to courts, is amended by
revising Code Section 15-2-1.1, relating to number of Justices, as
follows:
"15-2-1.1.
The
Supreme Court shall consist of
seven
nine
Justices."
SECTION
2.
Said
title is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 15-2-16,
relating to reversal and affirmance, as follows:
"(a)
In all cases decided by the Supreme Court, the concurrence of a majority of the
Justices shall be essential to a judgment of reversal. If the Justices are
evenly divided, the judgment of the court below shall stand affirmed. In all
cases decided by the court, with at least a quorum but less than
seven
nine
Justices, the concurrence of at least
four
five
shall be essential to the rendition of a
judgment;
and, if only four Justices act upon a case and they are evenly divided, the case
shall be reargued before a full bench, if possible, before the term closes; and,
if not possible, the judgment of the court below shall stand
affirmed."
SECTION
3.
Said
title is further amended by revising subsections (a) and (e) of Code Section
15-3-1, relating to the composition of the Court of Appeals, as
follows:
"(a)
Composition.
The Court of Appeals shall consist of
12
15
Judges who shall elect one of their number as Chief Judge, in such manner and
for such time as may be prescribed by rule or order of the
court."
"(e)
Quorum.
When all the members of the court are sitting together as one court,
seven
eight
Judges shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. In all cases decided by such
court as a whole by less than
12
15
Judges, the concurrence of at least
seven
eight
shall be essential to the rendition of a judgment."
SECTION
4.
Said
title is further amended by revising Code Section 15-3-4, relating to election
and term of office of Judges of Court of Appeals, as follows:
"15-3-4.
The
Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be elected at the general state election to
be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the even-numbered years
in the manner in which Justices of the Supreme Court are elected. The election
of the Judges shall be as follows:
(1)
Successors to the Judges serving in judgeships which existed prior to
1999
2010
shall be elected as follows:
(A)
Successors to any Judges whose terms
expired
expire
at the end of
1998
2010
shall be elected at the general election in
2004
2010
and each sixth year thereafter;
(B)
Successors to any Judges whose terms expire at the end of
2000
2012
shall be elected at the general election in
2000
2012
and each sixth year thereafter;
and
(C)
Successors to any Judges whose terms expire at the end of
2002
2014
shall be elected at the general election in
2002
2014
and each sixth year thereafter; and
(D)
Successors to any Judges whose terms expire at the end of 2004 shall be elected
at the general election in 2004 and each sixth year thereafter; and
(2)
Successors to the
two
three
Judges serving in the judgeships created in
1999
2010
shall be elected at the
2000
2012
general election and each sixth year thereafter.
The
terms of the Judges shall begin on January 1 following their election and,
except as provided above, shall continue for six years and until their
successors are qualified. They shall be commissioned accordingly by the
Governor."
SECTION
5.
Said
title is further amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 15-21A-5,
relating to retention of funds by authority and remittance to general fund of
state treasury, as follows:
"(b)
The net proceeds received pursuant to Code
Section
Sections
15-21A-6 and
15-21A-6.1 shall be remitted to the
general fund of the state treasury."
SECTION
6.
Said
title is further amended by revising Chapter 21A, relating to judicial
accounting, by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"15-21A-6.1.
(a)
In addition to all other legal costs, there shall be charged to the filing party
and collected by the clerk an additional filing fee of $100.00, to be known as a
judicial operations fund fee, in each civil action or case filed in the superior
and state courts except that municipalities, counties, and political
subdivisions shall be exempt from such fee. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, such fee shall apply to all adoptions, certiorari, trade name
registrations, applications for change of name, and all other proceedings of a
civil nature. Any matter which is docketed upon the official dockets of the
enumerated courts and to which a number is assigned shall be subject to such
fee, whether such matter is contested or not.
(b)
Each clerk of court subject to this Code section shall collect the fees provided
in this Code section and the moneys shall be paid over to the authority by the
last day of the month after the month of collection, to be deposited by the
authority into the general fund of the state treasury.
(c)
The authority shall, on a quarterly basis, make a report and accounting of all
funds collected pursuant to this Code section and shall submit such report and
accounting to the Office of Planning and Budget, the House Budget Office, and
the Senate Budget Office no later than 60 days after the last day of the
preceding quarter. It is the intent of the General Assembly that such funds
shall be made available for appropriation and may be appropriated for the
purposes of funding salaries of judges and the operational needs of the judicial
system in this state."
SECTION
7.
Sections
1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Act shall become effective upon the approval of this Act
by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval for the purpose
of appointing Justices and Judges. Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Act shall
become effective for all other purposes on July 1, 2010. The remaining sections
of this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2010, and shall apply to all cases
and matters filed on and after such date.
SECTION
8.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.