TITLE 50 STATE GOVERNMENT

Section 16. Public Property, 50-16-1 through 50-16-183.

ARTICLE 2 STATE PROPERTIES CODE

50-16-39. Public competitive bidding procedure for sales and leases; acceptance or rejection of bids by commission, General Assembly, or Governor; execution of leases and deeds.

1. Subject to authorization by the General Assembly as provided in Code Section 50-16-40, any conveyance, other than a grant of easement, lease, or exchange of real property, shall be initiated and carried out in accordance with this Code section.
2. A conveyance to a private entity shall be made only upon a public competitive process in accordance with rules established by the commission. The commission shall be authorized to accept sealed bids and best and final offers for any conveyance of property.
3. When a conveyance is based upon the acceptance of sealed bids, the bids shall be submitted to the executive director of the commission, or his or her designee, and each bid shall be accompanied by a bid bond or such other security as may be prescribed by the commission. All bids shall be opened in public on the date and at the time and place specified in the invitation for bids. The commission shall formally determine and announce which bid and bidder it considers to be most advantageous to the state. The commission shall have the right to reject any or all bids and bidders and the right to waive formalities in bidding.
4. The commission shall give no less than 30 days' prior written notice of its intention to convey property which has been declared surplus. Notice shall be made by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery and electronic transmission. The notice shall include a description of the property including the size, location, and prior use. The notice shall be mailed and electronically transmitted to the Office of Legislative Counsel, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the chairpersons of the standing committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives which regularly consider proposed legislation related to state property, and all members of the General Assembly whose legislative district contains all or a portion of the property that is the subject of a proposed conveyance. If any member of the General Assembly whose legislative district contains all or a portion of the property that is a subject of a proposed conveyance objects to such conveyance in writing to the commission not later than 30 days following the mailing of the notice required by this subsection, then the commission shall no longer be authorized to convey such property without the approval of the General Assembly as provided in Code Section 50-16-40.
5. When the commission formally determines and announces which bid and bidder or offer and offeror it considers to be most advantageous to the state, the commission shall then prepare the instrument of lease or contract of sale and deed. The chairperson of the commission, in his or her capacity as Governor of the state or, with the permission of the Governor, the executive director, shall execute and deliver to the purchaser the contract of sale for and on behalf of and in the name of the state, and thereupon both parties to the agreement shall be bound thereby. The Governor's signature or the signature of the executive director shall be attested by the secretary of the commission in his or her capacity as Secretary of State. The Secretary of State or the executive director shall also affix the great seal of the state to the contract of sale. Whenever, in the judgment of the chairperson of the commission, all of the terms and conditions of the contract of sale, or all of the precedent terms and conditions of the contract of sale, or all of the precedent terms and conditions of the lease have been fulfilled or complied with, the chairperson of the commission in his or her capacity as Governor of the state shall execute and deliver to the purchaser or lessee the deed or lease for and on behalf of and in the name of the state. The Governor's or executive director's signature shall be attested by the secretary of the commission in his or her capacity as Secretary of State. The Secretary of State or executive director shall also affix the great seal of the state to the deed or lease.

(Code 1933, § 91-109A, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 146, § 1; Ga. L. 1965, p. 663, §§ 4, 5; Code 1933, § 91-106a, enacted by Ga. L. 1973, p. 857, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1092, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 72, § 50/SB 465; Ga. L. 2014, p. 467, § 3/HB 495; Ga. L. 2015, p. 828, § 1/HB 104.)

The 2014 amendment, effective April 22, 2014, rewrote this Code section.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted "grant of easement, lease, or exchange of real property" for "lease of mineral resources provided for in Code Section 50-16-43" in the middle of subsection (a).