2020 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 3 - Official Oaths and Commissions
Article 1 - Official Oaths
§ 45-3-1. Oaths Required in Addition to Oath of Office and Constitutional Oath

Every public officer shall:

1. Take the oath of office;
2. Take any oath prescribed by the Constitution of Georgia;
3. Swear that he or she is not the holder of any unaccounted for public money due this state or any political subdivision or authority thereof;
4. Swear that he or she is not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any other state, or any foreign state which he or she is by the laws of the State of Georgia prohibited from holding;
5. Swear that he or she is otherwise qualified to hold said office according to the Constitution and laws of Georgia;
6. Swear that he or she will support the Constitution of the United States and of this state; and
7. If elected by any circuit or district, swear that he or she has been a resident thereof for the time required by the Constitution and laws of this state.

(Orig. Code 1863, § 134; Code 1868, § 129; Code 1873, § 139; Code 1882, § 139; Civil Code 1895, § 234; Civil Code 1910, § 269; Code 1933, § 89-302; Ga. L. 1986, p. 168, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 510, § 1.)

- Disqualification from public office of holders of unaccounted-for public money due state, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. II, Sec. II, Para. III and § 45-2-1.

Criminal penalty for violation of oath by public officer, § 16-10-1.

- For article, "The Georgia Bill of Rights: Dead or Alive?," see 34 Emory L.J. 341 (1985).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Oath not required of municipal officers.

- This section applies to officers commissioned by the Governor, and not to municipal officers not commissioned by the Governor. Brewer v. Johnson, 184 Ga. 806, 193 S.E. 778 (1937).

- An oath by a municipal officer is not necessary in the absence of any requirement thereof by the city charter or some other statute. Brewer v. Johnson, 184 Ga. 806, 193 S.E. 778 (1937).

Cited in McDuffie v. Perkerson, 178 Ga. 230, 173 S.E. 151 (1933); Morgan v. Crow, 183 Ga. 147, 187 S.E. 840 (1936).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Oath required of members of county board of health.

- Members of the county board of health were public officers within the meaning of former Code 1933, §§ 89-301 and 89-302 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 45-3-16 and45-3-1, respectively) and were required to take the oath as prescribed by Ga. L. 1961, p. 552, § 1 (see now O.C.G.A. § 45-3-11). 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 432.

- A local board of education member was required to take the oath specified in former Code 1933, § 89-302 (see now O.C.G.A. § 45-3-1). Until the member takes the oath, the local board member was not to enter upon the duties of office. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-15.

- Members-elect of a local board of education shall not enter upon the duties of office until qualified, commissioned, and administered the appropriate oaths. An incumbent board member who has been reelected or reappointed may continue to serve as an official member of the board prior to receiving the commission and being administered the appropriate oaths for the new term. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-15.

- Forestry investigators provided for by former Code 1933, § 43-208 (see now O.C.G.A. § 12-6-20) were not "public officers" of the state, but were "employees" only, and as such are under no requirement to give bond or take an oath, other than the loyalty oath. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 95.

- An attorney-hearing examiner for the United States Merit Systems Protection Board may not simultaneously serve as a part-time associate magistrate since the examiner would be exercising discretion vested in the board for the benefit of the public, and thus would be subject to the same disqualification contemplated by O.C.G.A. §§ 45-2-1(4) and45-3-1(4) as a member of the board, despite technical status as an "employee." 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U85-12.