Georgia cities that have a prosecuting attorney's office for their municipal court are required to submit copies of the resolution or ordinance creating the office to the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia. SB 352, passed by the Georgia General Assembly during the 2012 legislative session, became effective on April 11, 2012. In addition to requiring a city to provide a copy of the resolution or ordinance creating the city's prosecuting attroney's office, it also requires a city to notify the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the appointment of a municipal prosecuting attorney within 30 days of the appointment.
The law does not require any city to hire or have a municipal prosecuting attorney. Hiring or having a municipal prosecuting attorney is still up to the discretion of each individual city, unless required by the city’s charter. For municipalities which do have municipal prosecuting attorneys, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council has established a central registry for prosecuting attorneys of municipal courts in Georgia as required by O.C.G.A. § 15-18-91.
The text of SB 352 is
available online and O.C.G.A. §15-18-91 is found in Section 4 of the Bill that begins on page 4.
At its meeting on May 14, 2012, the Council adopted Policy 13.1 that will allow Georgia cities to register the prosecutor’s office by submitting the required documents electronically to the Council. The ordinance or resolution creating the office should be emailed to
info@pacga.org. City officials may also mail the documents to the Council offices or fax them to the address and fax number shown below. Municipalities may also register their municipal prosecuting attorney the same way.
Once the office and prosecutors are registered with the Council, their attorneys become eligible to attend relevant Council training programs. Municipal prosecuting attorneys’ offices will also be added to the
Council website.
Senate Bill 352 brings municipal prosecuting attorneys (previously called the “city solicitor”) into the Code of Georgia for the first time in Georgia history. Prior to its passage, state law did not recognize municipal prosecutors nor did it specify their duties and responsibilities. The 2012 law will standardize practice and procedure for prosecuting attorneys among the over 500 cities in Georgia.
The full text of the Council policy can be found on the Council website under "About PAC" under "Council Rules." The Council policies regarding the attendance of municipal prosecuting attorneys at Council conducted continuing legal education programs is PAC Policy 7.1 which can be found at the same location on the web.
GMA is currently working on a model resolution for this new state law and will notify city officials when it is available on the GMA web site.
Contact Information
Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia
Municipal Prosecuting Attorney Registry
Suite 400
104 Marietta Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
Fax: (404) 969.4001