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Call Now: 904-383-7448(a) The Governor may convene the General Assembly in special session by proclamation which may be amended by the Governor prior to the convening of the special session or amended by the Governor with the approval of three-fifths of the members of each house after the special session has convened; but no laws shall be enacted at any such special session except those which relate to the purposes stated in the proclamation or in any amendment thereto.
(b) The Governor shall convene the General Assembly in special session for all purposes whenever three-fifths of the members to which each house is entitled certify to the Governor in writing, with a copy to the Secretary of State, that in their opinion an emergency exists in the affairs of the state. The General Assembly may convene itself if, after receiving such certification, the Governor fails to do so within three days, excluding Sundays.
(c) Special sessions of the General Assembly shall be limited to a period of 40 days unless extended by three-fifths' vote of each house and approved by the Governor or unless at the expiration of such period an impeachment trial of some officer of state government is pending, in which event the House shall adjourn and the Senate shall remain in session until such trial is completed.
- Art. V, Sec. II, Para. III.
- Continuity of government during emergency, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. VI, Para. II, and §§ 38-3-52 and38-3-53.
Requirement that subject of session be stated in proclamation is imperative; approval by the Governor of an Act enacted at a session, not within the scope of the object stated, cannot make it valid. Jones v. State, 151 Ga. 502, 107 S.E. 765 (1921); McDonald v. State, 152 Ga. 223, 109 S.E. 656 (1921); Bibb County v. Williams, 152 Ga. 489, 110 S.E. 275 (1922).
Exercise of Governor's prerogative to convene General Assembly on extraordinary occasion not reviewable. Bunger v. State, 146 Ga. 672, 92 S.E. 72 (1917).
- In an action for mandamus where the duty imposed upon the officer was merely subordinate and ministerial in character, and the act to be performed was not one that was actually prohibited by the Constitution, and no material personal or property right of the treasurer would be affected by requiring its performance according to the statute, an officer had no interest in defeating the statute, and therefore could not attack it as invalid under this paragraph. Mallet v. Harper, 182 Ga. 506, 185 S.E. 798 (1936) (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. V, Sec. II, Para. VII).
- The Near Beer Act of 1908 (Ga. L. 1908, p. 1112) related to the object stated in the proclamation. Carroll v. Wright, 131 Ga. 728, 63 S.E. 260 (1908).
- The General Assembly did not violate this paragraph in the passage of what is commonly known as the Liquor Store Act (Ga. L. 1937-38, Ex. Sess., p. 103, Art. 3, Ch. 4, T. 3). Shadrick v. Bledsoe, 186 Ga. 345, 198 S.E. 535 (1938) (see Ga. Const 1983, Art. V, Sec. II, Para. VII).
- Act (Ga. L. 1937-38, Ex. Sess., p. 326, now repealed) making it the duty of the trial judge to fix the sentence in criminal cases, and giving the judge the power to place the defendant on probation, was related to the object stated in the Governor's proclamation concerning a called session, as "Laws fixing and imposing sentences in criminal cases; and probation of persons convicted." Williams v. MacFeeley, 186 Ga. 145, 197 S.E. 225 (1938).
- This paragraph provides for "three-fifths of the members elected" as a prerequisite for the convening of an extraordinary session of the legislature; this necessarily means three-fifths actually elected by the people to serve as members of the General Assembly, and persons who had resigned or were otherwise disqualified would not detract from the total number previously elected. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 347.(see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. V, Sec. II, Para. VII).
- 38 Am. Jur. 2d, Governor, § 4 et seq. Am. Jur. 2d, States, Territories, and Dependencies, § 46.
- 81A C.J.S., States, §§ 111, 112.