2020 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 10 - Codes of Ethics and Conflicts of Interest
Article 2 - Conflicts of Interest
Part 4 - Holding of Additional Offices by Nonelective State Officers or Employees
§ 45-10-70. Holding Office in Political Subdivision, Political Party, or Political Organization by Nonelective State Officers or Employees
No rules or regulations of any state agency, department, or authority shall prohibit nonelective officers or employees of this state from offering for or holding any elective or appointive office of a political subdivision of this state or any elective or appointive office of a political party or political organization of this state, provided that the office is not full time and does not conflict with the performance of the official duties of the person as a state employee.
(Code 1981, §45-10-70, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 427, § 1.)
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
No effect on O.C.G.A. § 42-9-15. - O.C.G.A. § 45-10-70 does not repeal, supersede, or otherwise modify O.C.G.A. § 42-9-15 as it applies to the political activities of a full-time employee of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles since § 45-10-70 only prohibits the promulgation of rules and regulations affecting an employee's ability to engage in certain political activity. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-16.
Rule consistent with section.
- State Personnel Board Rules and Regulations, Section 3.500, Political Activity, as amended, are consistent with O.C.G.A. § 45-10-70. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-16.
Prohibited employment.- An individual may not be employed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Division of Forensic Sciences at the same time that the individual is a county deputy coroner. 1997 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 97-21.
Board of Regents may prohibit employees from seeking or holding state or elective office while actively employed by the University System. 1998 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 98-5.
Service as mayor and assistant district attorney.
- Because there exists a conflict between the performance of the official duties as an assistant district attorney in the Northern Judicial Circuit of Georgia and those of the mayor of Comer, Georgia, offering for or holding that elective office while employed as an assistant district attorney in the Northern Judicial Circuit of Georgia would be prohibited by O.C.G.A. § 45-10-70. 2002 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U2002-7.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Validity, construction, and effect of state statutes restricting political activities of public officers or employees, 51 A.L.R.4th 702.
PART 5 FAMILY MEMBERS OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Editor's notes.
- Ga. L. 2005, p. 859, § 28/HB 48, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the provisions of that Act do not apply to any violation occurring prior to January 9, 2006.
