TITLE 23 EQUITY

Section 3. Equitable Remedies And Proceedings Generally, 23-3-1 through 23-3-127.

ARTICLE 6 TAXPAYER PROTECTION AGAINST FALSE CLAIMS

23-3-120. Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

1. "Claim" means any request or demand, whether under a contract or otherwise, for money or property, and whether or not this state or a local government has title to such money or property that is:
   1. Presented to an officer, employee, or agent of the state or local government;
   2. Made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient, if the money or property is to be spent or used on the state's or local government's behalf or to advance a state or local government program or interest, and if the state or local government:
      1. Provides or has provided any portion of the money or property requested or demanded; or
      2. Will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded.

      Such term shall not include requests or demands for money or property that the state or local government has paid to an individual as compensation for state or local government employment or as an income subsidy with no restrictions on that individual's use of the money or property.

2. "Knowing" and "knowingly" mean that a person, with respect to information:
   1. Has actual knowledge of the information;
   2. Acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information; or
   3. Acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information.

      No proof of specific intent to defraud is required.

3. "Local government" means any Georgia county, municipal corporation, consolidated government, authority, board of education or other local public board, body, or commission, town, school district, board of cooperative educational services, local public benefit corporation, hospital authority, taxing authority, or other political subdivision of the state or of such local government, including the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.
4. "Material" means having a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the payment or receipt of money or property.
5. "Obligation" means an established duty, whether fixed or not, arising from an express or implied contractual, grantor-grantee, or licensor-licensee relationship, from a fee based or similar relationship, from law or regulation, or from the retention of any overpayment.
6. "State" means the State of Georgia and any state department, board, bureau, division, commission, committee, public benefit corporation, public authority, council, office, or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for this state.

(Code 1981, §23-3-120, enacted by Ga. L. 2012, p. 127, § 1-2/HB 822; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 23/HB 79.)

The 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority" for "MARTA" at the end of paragraph (3).