O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 45-3-1 (2019)

Oaths required in addition to oath of office and constitutional oath

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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Every public officer shall: (1) Take the oath of office; (2) Take any oath prescribed by the Constitution of Georgia; (3) Swear that he or she is not the holder of any unaccounted for public money due this state or any political subdivision or authority thereof; (4) Swear that he or she is not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any other state, or any foreign state which he or she is by the laws of the State of Georgia prohibited from holding; (5) Swear that he or she is otherwise qualified to hold said office according to the Constitution and laws of Georgia; (6) Swear that he or she will support the Constitution of the United States and of this state; and

PUBLIC OFFICERS & EMPLOYEES

(7) If elected by any circuit or district, swear that he or she has been a resident thereof for the time required by the Constitution and laws of this state.

History

(Orig. Code 1863, § 134; Code 1868, § 129; Code 1873, § 139; Code 1882, § 139; Civil Code 1895, § 234; Civil Code 1910, § 269; Code 1933, § 89-302; Ga. L. 1986, p. 168, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 510, § 1.)

Annotations

Cross references. - Disqualification from public office of holders of unaccounted-for public money due state, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. II, Sec. II, Para. III and § 45-2-1. Criminal penalty for violation of oath by public officer, § 16-10-1.

Law reviews. - For article, ‘‘The Georgia Bill of Rights: Dead or Alive?,’’ see 34 Emory L.J. 341 (1985).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Oath not required of municipal officers. - This section applies to officers commissioned by the Governor, and not to municipal officers not commissioned by the Governor. Brewer v. Johnson, 184 Ga. 806, 193 S.E. 778 (1937). Unless required by city charter or other statute. - An oath by a municipal

officer is not necessary in the absence of any requirement thereof by the city charter or some other statute. Brewer v. Johnson, 184 Ga. 806, 193 S.E. 778 (1937). Cited in McDuffie v. Perkerson, 178 Ga. 230, 173 S.E. 151 (1933); Morgan v. Crow, 183 Ga. 147, 187 S.E. 840 (1936).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Oath required of members of county board of health. - Members of the county board of health were public officers within the meaning of former Code 1933, §§ 89-301 and 89-302 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 45-3-16 and 45-3-1, respectively) and were required to take the oath as prescribed by Ga. L. 1961, p. 552, § 1 (see now O.C.G.A. § 45-3-11). 1963-65 Op. Att’y Gen. p. 432. Oath required of local board of education member. - A local board of education member was required to take the oath specified in former Code 1933, § 89-302 (see now O.C.G.A. § 45-3-1). Until the member takes the oath, the local board member was not to enter upon the duties of office. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 75-15. Reelected or reappointed board member may continue to serve prior to taking oath for new term. - Members-elect of a local board of education shall not enter upon the duties of office until qualified, commissioned, and administered the appropriate oaths. An incumbent board member who has been

reelected or reappointed may continue to serve as an official member of the board prior to receiving the commission and being administered the appropriate oaths for the new term. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 75-15. Forestry investigators not required to take oaths other than loyalty oath. - Forestry investigators provided for by former Code 1933, § 43-208 (see now O.C.G.A. § 12-6-20) were not ‘‘public officers’’ of the state, but were ‘‘employees’’ only, and as such are under no requirement to give bond or take an oath, other than the loyalty oath. 1952-53 Op. Att’y Gen. p. 95. Office of trust under United States Government. - An attorney-hearing examiner for the United States Merit Systems Protection Board may not simultaneously serve as a part-time associate magistrate since the examiner would be exercising discretion vested in the board for the benefit of the public, and thus would be subject to the same disqualification contemplated by O.C.G.A. §§ 45-2-1(4) and 45-3-1(4) as a member of

the board, despite technical status as an ‘‘employee.’’ 1985 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U85-12.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1992–2026 · leading case: Kennedy v. State, 421 S.E.2d 560 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992).
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Kennedy v. State, 421 S.E.2d 560 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “See OCGA § 45-3-1. *154 2. Kennedy enumerates as error the trial court’s failure to conduct a presentence hearing as required by OCGA § 17-10-2, claiming this omission necessitates a remand for resentencing in accordance with that Code section.”
Clayton Watkins v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2026). · cites it 6× “1 provides (and provided at the time of these alleged crimes) that 16 OCGA §§ 45-3-1 through 45-3-10 in the Article of the Code concerning official oaths apply to peace officers.”
Pierson v. The State., 824 S.E.2d 657 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 2× “37 See OCGA § 15-16-4 ("Before entering on the duties of their office the sheriffs shall take and subscribe, in addition to the oath required of all civil officers, the following oath before the judge of the superior court or the judge of the probate court: 'I do swear that I…”
State v. Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 4× “See OCGA §§ 28-1-4 (a) and OCGA § 45-3-1. OCGA § 28- 1-4 (a) provides: In addition to any other oath prescribed by law, each Senator and Representative, before taking the seat to which elected, shall take the following oath: I do hereby solemnly swear or affirm that I will…”
State v. Phillips (Ga. 2025). · cites it 4× “” In particular, the officers argue that OCGA § 45-3-1, which does not include the “courteous and professional manner” language, prescribes the only terms of a peace officer’s oath that could be used to support criminal liability in this case.”
— 45-3-1(6) — 1 case
State v. Phillips (Ga. 2025). “” In particular, the officers argue that OCGA § 45-3-1, which does not include the “courteous and professional manner” language, prescribes the only terms of a peace officer’s oath that could be used to support criminal liability in this case.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.