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2018 Georgia Code 45-10-1 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 45-10-1 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 45-10-1

TITLE 45 PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

Section 10. Codes of Ethics and Conflicts of Interest, 45-10-1 through 45-10-92.

ARTICLE 1 CODES OF ETHICS

45-10-1. Code of ethics for government service generally - Establishment and text.

There is established for and within the state and for and in all governments therein a code of ethics for government service which shall read as follows:

CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE Any person in government service should:

I. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or government department.

II. Uphold the Constitution, laws, and legal regulations of the United States and the State of Georgia and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.

III. Give a full day's labor for a full day's pay and give to the performance of his duties his earnest effort and best thought.

IV. Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.

V. Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not, and never accept, for himself or his family, favors or benefits under circumstances which might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the performance of his governmental duties.

VI. Make no private promises of any kind binding upon the duties of office, since a government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.

VII. Engage in no business with the government, either directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of his governmental duties.

VIII. Never use any information coming to him confidentially in the performance of governmental duties as a means for making private profit.

IX. Expose corruption wherever discovered.

X. Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.

(Ga. L. 1968, p. 1369.)

Law reviews.

- For article, "Conflicts of Interests of Public Officers and Employees," see 13 Ga. St. B.J. 64 (1976). For article, "Georgia's New Ethics Laws: A Summary of the Changes Relevant to Lobbyists and Legislators," see 11 Ga. St. B.J. 22 (No. 4, 2005).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Removal from office.

- A city commissioner's removal from office, based on acts committed prior to taking office, was erroneous because: (1) removal was not authorized by the city's charter; (2) the commissioner's conduct of maintaining innocence until the entry of a guilty plea after taking office was not an official act or one done under the color of the office; (3) the acts committed did not prevent the commissioner from performing the duties of that post; and (4) the commissioner was not guilty of evading the law after becoming a member of the commission. Ciccio v. City of Hephzibah, 289 Ga. App. 134, 656 S.E.2d 245 (2008), cert. denied, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 474 (Ga. 2008).

No duty on board to put citizen on agenda.

- A citizen was not entitled to a writ of mandamus directing a school board to place the citizen on the board's agenda because setting the agenda was a discretionary act that was not subject to mandamus and none of the statutes cited by the citizen, O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-1160(a),45-10-1 and50-6-6(b), imposed a duty on the board to place the citizen on the board's agenda. James v. Montgomery County Bd. of Educ., 283 Ga. 517, 661 S.E.2d 535 (2008).

Cited in Pope v. Propst, 179 Ga. App. 211, 345 S.E.2d 880 (1986).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Funeral service inspectors as trade association officers.

- State Board of Funeral Service inspectors appointed pursuant to O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 18 are not prohibited by state law from holding appointed or elected office in private associations of funeral service practitioners. However, serving as an officer in such private association could create an appearance of impropriety by competing loyalties which may be owed to the association and to the board. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-25.

Dual employment.

- A state employee may not contract with a county to perform services during the same 40-hour work week. 1998 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U98-12.

Representation by lawyer/legislator.

- Lawyer/legislator may represent the legal interests of a Georgia company on matters in other states, including political consulting and the drafting of legislation. However, even if there may not be a per se conflict of interest, a lawyer/legislator must always vigilantly guard against such conflicts developing depending upon the facts and circumstances of each situation, especially when matters arise involving the lawyer/legislator's own actions in the consideration of legislation within the General Assembly. 2009 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U2009-3.

Full-time nature of judicial secretary job.

- Both O.C.G.A. § 15-6-27 and O.C.G.A. § 45-10-1 reinforce the understanding that the job of judicial secretary is a full time job to which the employee is expected to give his or her "earnest effort and best thought." 2016 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U16-2.

Simultaneous service of judicial secretary.

- A judicial secretary appointed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 15-6-25 may not simultaneously serve the same court as an official court reporter because such an arrangement would prevent the secretary from complying with O.C.G.A. § 45-10-1 and providing the state with a full day's work for a full day's pay. 2016 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U16-2.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 247 et seq.

C.J.S.

- 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, §§ 6, 201.

ALR.

- Refusal of public officer to answer frankly questions asked him during an investigation as ground for removal or discipline, 77 A.L.R. 616.

Liability of public officer for interest or other earnings received on public money in his possession, 5 A.L.R.2d 257.

Validity, construction, and effect of state statutes restricting political activities of public officers or employees, 51 A.L.R.4th 702.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 45-10-1

Total Results: 2  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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James v. Montgomery Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 661 S.E.2d 535 (Ga. 2008).

Cited 8 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 19, 2008 | 283 Ga. 517, 2008 Fulton County D. Rep. 1697

...192, 193, 637 S.E.2d 37 (2006) ("The duty which a mandamus complainant seeks to have enforced `must be a duty arising by law, either expressly or by necessary implication; and the law must not only authorize the act to be done, but must require its performance.' [Cits.]"). Likewise, *536 OCGA §§ 50-6-6(b) [1] and 45-10-1, [2] other statutes cited by James, do not impose a duty on the Board to place James on its agenda....
...rd has jurisdiction. The local boards of education shall be authorized to employ certified public accountants of this state to make the audits and to expend funds for the audits which are received by any such board for educational purposes. [2] OCGA § 45-10-1 sets forth a code of ethics for government officials....
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Davis v. Shavers, 439 S.E.2d 650 (Ga. 1994).

Cited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Feb 7, 1994 | 263 Ga. 785, 94 Fulton County D. Rep. 482

...Appellants' recall application with regard to City Councilman Shavers alleged that Shavers had committed "acts of malfeasance" and "an act of misconduct" while in office. The supporting facts on which the recall application was based were alleged to be that He committed an unlawful act and violated parts of II and V of OCGA 45-10-1 by illegally passing by resolution an amendment to the retirement system ordinance and causing the payment of unrestored City funds thereunder which benefitted him and others when an ordinance can only be amended by another ordinance and by v...
...Though the allegations in this case arguably fall "close ... to the mark," id. at 280, the supporting facts fail to state with reasonable particularity grounds for recall. While appellants maintain in their application that all three factual allegations are violations of OCGA § 45-10-1, the Code of Ethics for Government Service, it is only by reference to their brief that one gains notice of why these alleged sets of facts may constitute acts of malfeasance or misconduct in office....
...recall could be made. Case No. S93A1617 2. Appellants' recall application stated that City Councilman Bass committed "acts of malfeasance" and "an act of misconduct in office" in that He committed an unlawful act and violated parts II and V of OCGA 45-10-1 by illegally passing by resolution an amendment to the retirement system ordinance and causing the payment of unrestored City funds thereunder which benefitted him and others when an ordinance can only be amended by another ordinance and by v...
...uthority, public property or public funds entrusted to his office" in that He used the City's cellular phone for personal use and did not pay the City for bills on same for months until after a citizen protest, and he violated parts II and V of OCGA 45-10-1 by initiating and complying with a failure to release public documents, the itemization of calls for said phone and officially encouraged the illegal passage by resolution of an amendment to the retirement system ordinance and payment of unrestored City funds thereunder which benefitted him and others....