Government of Georgia | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the government of Georgia  | |
| Part of | United States of America |
| Constitution | Constitution of Georgia |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Georgia General Assembly |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Meeting place | Georgia State Capitol |
| Upper house | |
| Name | Senate |
| Presiding officer | Burt Jones, President |
| Lower house | |
| Name | House of Representatives |
| Presiding officer | Jon G. Burns, Speaker |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state andgovernment | |
| Title | Governor |
| Currently | Brian Kemp |
| Appointer | Election |
| Cabinet | |
| Leader | Governor |
| Deputy leader | Lieutenant Governor |
| Headquarters | Georgia State Capitol |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary of Georgia |
| Courts | Courts of Georgia |
| Supreme Court of Georgia | |
| Chief judge | Michael P. Boggs |
| Seat | Atlanta |
Thestate government of Georgia is theU.S. state governmental body established by theGeorgia State Constitution. It is arepublican form of government withthree branches: thelegislature,executive, andjudiciary. Through a system ofseparation of powers or "checks and balances", each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches. The seat of government forGeorgia is located inAtlanta.
The current statewide elected officials are as follows:[1][2]
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The mainexecutive official in Georgia is theGovernor. They are elected by the voters of the state for aterm of four years. No person may hold the office more than twice consecutively. The governor oversees the statebudget and thus possesses great power over all statefinances. Additionally, the governor is responsible for thenomination of over a thousandofficials to a variety of positions in state government, one of the largest rosters of any U.S. state.[citation needed] Those nominated must be approved by the state legislature. Regulations are codified in theRules and Regulations of the State of Georgia.[3]
In addition, there are three other state executive nonpartisan offices:
| Office | Incumbent | Appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia State Auditor | Greg Griffin | appointed by joint resolution of the General Assembly[4] | |
| Georgia State Treasurer | Steve McCoy | appointed by the State Depository Board[5] | |
| Georgia Commissioner of Natural Resources | Walter Rabon | Nominated by the Georgia Board of Natural Resources, appointed by the Governor[6] |
There are several departments, agencies and other entities within the government, including the:
Thelegislature of Georgia is theGeneral Assembly, abicameral body consisting of theSenate and theHouse of Representatives. The Senate has 56 members and the House has 180 members. Lawmakers serve 2-year terms and work part-time. Each member of the legislature represents geographically distinctdistricts from which each voter may give support to onecandidate for each body. For most of its history, the state used an unusualcounty unit system by which districts were drawn such that each had the samearea. However,population growth incities across the state led to therural population, which was in relative decline, having disproportionate power in government. After theU.S. Supreme Court declared such unequal representation to be unconstitutional inGray v. Sanders in 1963, state officials began to redefine legislative districts so that each had a similarly sized population. Both senators and representatives have terms of two years. There are no limits on the number of terms any person may serve. Its legislative acts, generically called "chapter laws" or "slip laws" when printed separately, are published in the officialGeorgia Laws and are called "session laws".[7] These in turn have beencodified in theOfficial Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.).[7]
The General Assembly transforms bills into laws. A bill is created after citizens contact their representatives about an issue they care about. The legislator drafts a bill that addresses the concerns of citizens. The lawmaker sponsors the bill and files it with either the Clerk of the House or Secretary of Senate to be registered, introduced, and assigned to a committee for review. While in committee, public testimonies and commentary are presented to the committee. After studying the bill, the committee will recommend one of the following: to pass, not pass, pass with changes, or hold bill during its second reading. The bill will proceed to its third reading if viewed favorably by the committee. Bills will be called to the floor for the first ten days of a session. After the tenth day, the Rules Committee starts prioritizing bills to be called. The Rules Committee prepares which bills will be called to the floor on the next day. Once on the floor, the General Assembly may vote and/or make amendments. The bill requires a majority vote to pass through the chamber it originated from by Crossover Day, which is the 30th day in session. Bills that do not advance to the other chamber by this day will not be considered for the remainder of the session. Both the House and Senate follow these rules before sending it to the other house for review. The bills continues to be amendment until both sides can agree on the same version of the bill. Once this is reached, the bill is sent to the governor to be enacted or vetoed, which in the latter case will require a2⁄3 majority vote from both houses to overcome the veto. The bill is usually sent to the governor after sine die, the last day of the legislative session. The governor has 40 days to approve or veto the bill after sine die before it is automatically enacted. If the bill is requested to arrive at the governor's desk earlier than sine die, the governor must sign. If the bill is sent to the governor during the session, the governor has six days to sign before the bill becomes a law. The law is enacted on July 1.[8]
The highestjudiciary power in Georgia is theSupreme Court, which is composed of ninejudges. The state also has aCourt of Appeals made of 12 judges. Georgia is divided into 49 judicial circuits, each of which has aSuperior Court consisting of local judges numbering between two and 19 depending on the circuit population. Under the 1983 Constitution, Georgia also hasmagistrate courts,probate courts,juvenile courts,state courts; the General Assembly may also authorize municipal courts.[9] Other courts, includingcounty recorder's courts,civil courts and other agencies in existence on June 30, 1983, may continue with the same jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law.[9]
Each county in Georgia has at least one superior court, magistrate court, probate court, and where needed a state court and a juvenile court; in the absence of a state court or a juvenile court, the superior court exercises that jurisdiction.[9]
All serving judges are elected by popular vote either from the entire state in the cases of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals or from a given circuit in the case of Superior Courts. Judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals serve for terms of six years. Judges of other courts serve for terms of four years.
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The Georgia Constitution grants cities and counties a significant amount ofhome rule authority.[7]
Georgia is divided into 159counties, more than any other U.S. state exceptTexas. Among all counties, 149 of them are governed by acommittee made of between three and eleven commissioners. The other 10 counties are overseen by a single commissioner. All commissioners are elected by the voters of their county for terms that range between two and six years with most counties having terms lasting four years. Serving members wield both executive and legislative power in their county.
Most of the 536 cities in Georgia are governed by amayor–council system.[citation needed] All municipalities in the state are considered cities. Most basicpublic services rendered outside of the cities are provided by the counties.
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