2021 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 3 - Official Oaths and Commissions
Article 1 - Official Oaths
§ 45-3-11. Loyalty Oath - Persons Required to Take Oath Generally
All persons who are employed by and are on the payroll of the state and are the recipients of wages, per diem, or salary of the state or its departments and agencies, with the exception of pages employed by the General Assembly, and all counties and cities, school districts, and local educational systems throughout the entire state, are required to take an oath that they will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Georgia.
(Ga. L. 1949, p. 960, § 1; Ga. L. 1961, p. 552, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 45; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 45; Ga. L. 2002, p. 415, § 45; Ga. L. 2015, p. 385, § 5-3/HB 252.)
The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, deleted "and that they are not members of the Communist Party" following "the Constitution of Georgia" at the end of this Code section.
Cross references.- Investigation of person prior to public employment to ascertain whether such person is a subversive person, § 16-11-13.
Eligibility of subversive persons to be nominated or elected to public office, § 21-2-7.
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 2015, p. 385, § 1-1/HB 252, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'J. Calvin Hill, Jr., Act.'"
Law reviews.- For comment on Baggett v. Bullitt, 377 U.S. 360, 84 S. Ct. 1316, 12 L. Ed. 2d 377 (1964), see 2 Ga. St. B.J. 123 (1965).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Constitutionality of oath.
- The portion of the Georgia loyalty oath which requires one to swear to support the constitutions of Georgia and the United States is constitutional and valid. The portion of the Georgia loyalty oath which requires one to disavow membership in the Communist Party is violative of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and should not be administered. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 85-19.
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.
Since the language of this section broadly includes all persons employed by and on the payroll, and recipients of wages per diem and/or salary of the State of Georgia and counties or cities, this section includes members of county boards of health and requires such members to take the approved oath of loyalty. 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 432.
Oath not required of employees of city housing authority.- Although a city housing authority is an instrumentality of the state, it is not an agency, board, or department of the state, and, therefore, employees of the housing authority of a city are not required to sign the loyalty oath. 1950-51 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 98.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Validity of governmental requirement of oath of allegiance or loyalty, 18 A.L.R.2d 268.
