TITLE 23 EQUITY

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

ARTICLE 6 TAXPAYER PROTECTION AGAINST FALSE CLAIMS

23-3-123. Statute of limitations; service of subpoena; limitation on disclosures; intervention; preponderance of the evidence standard; effect of criminal conviction on civil actions.

1. Except as provided in paragraph (3) of subsection (l) of Code Section 23-3-122, all civil actions under this article shall be filed pursuant to Code Section 23-3-122 within six years after the date the violation was committed or three years after the date when facts material to the right of civil action are known or reasonably should have been known by the state or local government official charged with the responsibility to act in the circumstances, whichever occurs last; provided, however, that in no event shall any civil action be filed more than ten years after the date upon which the violation was committed.
2. A subpoena requiring the attendance of a witness at a trial or hearing conducted under Code Section 23-3-122 may be served at any place in this state.
3. For purposes of applying subsection (b) of Code Section 9-11-9, in pleading a civil action brought under this article, the qui tam plaintiff shall not be required to identify specific claims that result from an alleged course of misconduct or any specific records or statements used if the facts alleged in the complaint, if ultimately proven true, would provide a reasonable indication that one or more violations of Code Section 23-3-121 are likely to have occurred and if the allegations in the pleading provide adequate notice of the specific nature of the alleged misconduct to permit the state or a local government to investigate effectively and defendants to defend fairly the allegations made.
4. If the state or local government elects to intervene and proceed with a civil action brought under subsection (b) of Code Section 23-3-122, the state or local government may file its own complaint or amend the complaint of a person who has brought an action under such subsection to clarify or add detail to the claims in which the state or local government is intervening and to add any additional claims with respect to which the state or local government contends it is entitled to relief. For statute of limitations purposes, any such state or local government pleading shall relate back to the filing date of the complaint of the person who originally brought the action, to the extent that the claim of the state or local government arises out of the conduct, transactions, or occurrences set forth, or attempted to be set forth, in the prior complaint of that person.
5. In any action brought under Code Section 23-3-122, the plaintiff shall be required to prove all essential elements of the cause of action, including damages, by a preponderance of the evidence.
6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a final judgment rendered in favor of the state or local government or the United States in any criminal proceeding charging fraud or false statements, whether upon a verdict after trial or upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, shall estop the defendant from denying the essential elements of the offense in any civil action which involves the same transaction as in the criminal proceeding and which is brought under subsection (a) or (b) of Code Section 23-3-122.

(Code 1981, §23-3-123, enacted by Ga. L. 2012, p. 127, § 1-2/HB 822.)