O.C.G.A. § 46-8-1 (2019)
Recording of leases by railroad company in each county through which its road runs, generally
Any railroad company in this state which leases its property or line of road to another railroad company or to a private person shall have the contract of lease, or other contract of like nature evidencing the change of control and possession of such property or line of road, recorded in the clerk’s office of the superior court in each county through which the line of road may run.
History
(Ga. L. 1899, p. 54, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 2598; Code 1933, § 94-319.)
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Liability of railroad company extended by Code Sections 46-8-1 and 46-8-2. - Former Code 1933, §§ 94-319 and 94-320 (see O.C.G.A. §§ 46-8-1 and 46-8-2) did not limit liability of a railroad company but extended it. These sections did not affect the right of a member of the general public to hold the lessor railroad liable for the negligent acts of the lessee. Central of Ga. Ry. v. Leonard, 49 Ga. App. 689, 176 S.E. 137 (1934). Failure to record lease makes lessor liable for injuries. - Under the provisions of former Code 1933, §§ 94-319 and 94-320 (see O.C.G.A. §§ 46-8-1 and 46-8-2, where one company leases trackage rights to another railroad and fails to record the lease in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county through which the tracks run, a person injured by acts of the lessee railroad company may sue the company responsible for the person’s injuries or the lessor, or both, since failure to record the lease agreement renders the lessor company liable for the acts of the lessee as well as for its own acts causing the plaintiff ’s injuries. Atlantic
Coast Line R.R. v. Newsome, 90 Ga. App. 509, 83 S.E.2d 333 (1954). By virtue of former Code 1933, § 94-320 (see O.C.G.A. § 46-8-2), an employee of a lessee railroad had a right of action against the lessor railroad for injuries sustained due to the negligence of a coemployee of the lessee if the lease between the railroads was not recorded in the county wherein the injuries occurred and through which the leased line of road ran, as provided in former Code 1933, § 94-319 (see O.C.G.A. § 46-8-1). Georgia R.R. & Banking Co. v. Fulmer, 84 Ga. App. 101, 65 S.E.2d 636 (1951). Actual notice of existence of lease not relevant. - In the recording statutes for deeds, etc., the legislature expressly provided for actual notice where failure to record occurs, but in former Code 1933, §§ 94-319 and 94-320 (see O.C.G.A. §§ 46-8-1 and 46-8-2) and § 46-8-2 nothing was provided concerning actual notice. Thus, failure to record the lease in the county where the injury occured gave an
employee a right of action against the lessor railroad for injuries sustained in the county even where the employee and an allegedly negligent coemployee were employees of
one of the lessees. Georgia R.R. & Banking Co. v. Fulmer, 84 Ga. App. 101, 65 S.E.2d 636 (1951).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 65 Am. Jur. 2d, Railroads, § 213.
C.J.S. - 74 C.J.S., Railroads, § 447 et seq.