2020 Georgia Code
Title 43 - Professions and Businesses
Chapter 47 - Used Motor Vehicle and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers
§ 43-47-6. General Powers and Duties of Board

All powers and duties under this chapter not specifically reserved to the board shall be the powers and duties of the division. The board shall have the following powers and duties:

1. To receive applications for registration of licensees and to forward them to the appropriate division;
2. To make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the administration and enforcement of this chapter;
3. To arrange for all new applicants to have a criminal background check, which background check shall be mandatory. The applicant's fingerprints shall be forwarded to the Georgia Crime Information Center which shall run a criminal background check on the applicant and provide the results of the background check to the board. Additionally, the applicant's fingerprints will be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check;
4. To publish in print or electronically on or before September 1 of each year an alphabetical listing of all licensees pursuant to this chapter and to distribute copies of the same, if requested, to the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Revenue, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, to all sheriffs in this state, and to all county and municipal police departments in this state;
5. To establish a fee for a license for each principal place of business and a fee for a supplemental license for each place of business not immediately adjacent to the principal place of business. The board may establish separate schedules of fees for such licenses depending on whether the applicant begins to do business as a licensee prior to or after the issuance of any such license; and
6. To do all other things necessary and proper to carry out the powers and duties listed in this Code section.

(Ga. L. 1958, p. 55, § 7; Ga. L. 1968, p. 23, § 5; Ga. L. 1981, p. 767, § 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 369, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 441, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 838, § 10/SB 388.)

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Board's remedies against violators.

- Board may use, in addition to the board's authority to revoke, suspend, or refuse licenses, the injunctive remedy provided for in Ga. L. 1958, p. 55, § 14 (see now O.C.G.A. § 43-47-15) to enjoin any violation of the provisions of this chapter (see now O.C.G.A. T. 43, C. 47); violators are also subject to prosecution under the misdemeanor provision of former Code 1933, § 84-9965 (see now O.C.G.A. § 43-47-22). 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 269.

- Mere fact that a document is deposited or filed in a public office, or with a public officer, or is in the custody of a public officer, does not make the document a public record; the crucial aspect which makes applications and related materials subject to public scrutiny is the necessity for the board to keep these documents in the discharge of the board's proper duty. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-126.

Licensure applications submitted to board and their necessary parts are public records and, therefore, applications and related material become state records open to public scrutiny when the applications are received by the board; financial statements submitted are a necessary part of this application and are, therefore, open for public inspection; and it would not be permissible for the board to return financial statements to the applicant without subjecting the statements to public scrutiny. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-126.