2021 Georgia Code
Title 50 - State Government
Chapter 13 - Administrative Procedure
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 50-13-1. Short Title; Purpose

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act." It is not intended that this chapter create or diminish any substantive rights or delegated authority, but this chapter is meant to provide a procedure for administrative determination and regulation where expressly authorized by law or otherwise required by the Constitution or a statute of this state.

(Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 1; Ga. L. 1965, p. 283, § 1.)

- For article advocating consistency in statutory provisions governing review of administrative conduct in Georgia, prior to the enactment of O.C.G.A. Ch. 13, T. 50, see 15 Ga. B.J. 153 (1952). For article discussing procedural problems with judicial review of administrative conduct in Georgia prior to the enactment of O.C.G.A. Ch. 13, T. 50, see 15 Ga. B.J. 297 (1953). For article, "The Georgia Uniform Procedure Act," see 1 Ga. St. B.J. 269 (1964). For article discussing Georgia administrative law during 1975 to 1977, see 29 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (1977). For annual survey of administrative law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 31 (2004). For annual survey of administrative law, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2015). For note discussing application of procedural due process requirements to hearings by administrative tribunals, see 32 Mercer L. Rev. 359 (1980).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Exhaustion of administrative remedies.

- Intent of the legislature was to provide by Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 1 et seq. (see O.C.G.A. Ch. 13, T. 50) an administrative procedure to resolve conflicts within the authority vested in administrative agencies and boards by statute without resort to courts of record in the first instance. Georgia State Bd. of Dental Exmrs. v. Daniels, 137 Ga. App. 706, 224 S.E.2d 820 (1976).

- Trial court properly denied the defendant's amended motion for a new trial holding that the administration of breath tests pursuant to Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 92-3-.06(12)(b) did not violate the due process clause under both U.S. Const., amend. 5 or Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. I given that: (1) the claim was raised for the first time in the new trial motion, and was thus untimely; (2) the defendant had an alternative remedy under the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-13-1 et seq.; (3) the defendant failed to show that the Division of Forensic Sciences (DFS) eliminated meaningful procedures for conducting breath tests when the division promulgated the rule; and (4) the techniques and methods approved by DFS were sufficient to ensure fair and accurate testing. Palmaka v. State, 280 Ga. App. 761, 634 S.E.2d 883 (2006).

Civil Practice Act was inapplicable to proceedings under the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 1 et seq. Georgia State Bd. of Dental Exmrs. v. Daniels, 137 Ga. App. 706, 224 S.E.2d 820 (1976).

- Ga. L. 1937, p. 806 (see O.C.G.A. § 34-8-222) and the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 1 et seq., are in derogation of common law and must be strictly construed. Caldwell v. Corbin, 152 Ga. App. 153, 262 S.E.2d 516 (1979).

- When a statute provides a party with a means of review by an administrative agency, such procedure is generally an adequate remedy at law so as to preclude the grant of equitable relief. Brogdon v. State Bd. of Veterinary Medicine, 244 Ga. 780, 262 S.E.2d 56 (1979).

- See Hardison v. Fayssoux, 168 Ga. App. 398, 309 S.E.2d 397 (1983).

- In a proceeding wherein a trial court affirmatively granted a peace officer's reinstatement, the court held that the trial court erred by reversing the decision of the council based on grounds that were never urged before the trial court and that were not raised in the petition for judicial review or at the hearing on the petition. Ga. Peace Officer Standards and Training Council v. Hodges, 330 Ga. App. 145, 767 S.E.2d 286 (2014).

- In a case involving a white supremacist organization being denied a permit for the Adopt-A-Highway program administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation (Department), the court dismissed the Department's appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the Department sought review of a decision of a state administrative agency and was required under O.C.G.A. § 5-6-35(a)(1) to bring the Department's appeal by way of an application for discretionary review, but failed to do so. State of Ga. v. International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc., 299 Ga. 392, 788 S.E.2d 455 (2016).

Cited in Hood v. Rice, 120 Ga. App. 691, 172 S.E.2d 170 (1969); Department of Pub. Safety v. Byars, 127 Ga. App. 190, 192 S.E.2d 926 (1972); O'Neal v. Georgia Real Estate Comm'n, 129 Ga. App. 211, 199 S.E.2d 362 (1973); Sumter County Bd. of Educ. v. Mosley, 147 Ga. App. 478, 249 S.E.2d 284 (1978); Keramidas v. Department of Human Resources, 147 Ga. App. 820, 250 S.E.2d 560 (1978); Hicks v. Georgia State Bd. of Pharmacy, 553 F. Supp. 314 (N.D. Ga. 1982); Johnsen v. Collins, 875 F. Supp. 1571 (S.D. Ga. 1994); Brown v. Barrow, 512 F.3d 1304 (11th Cir. 2008); Atmos Energy Corp. v. Ga. PSC, 290 Ga. App. 243, 659 S.E.2d 385 (2008); Atmos Energy Corp. v. Ga. PSC, 290 Ga. App. 243, 659 S.E.2d 385 (2008); Carolina Tobacco Co. v. Baker, 295 Ga. App. 115, 670 S.E.2d 811 (2008); Longleaf Energy Assocs., LLC v. Friends of the Chattahoochee, Inc., 298 Ga. App. 753, 681 S.E.2d 203 (2009); Scarborough v. Hunter, 293 Ga. 431, 746 S.E.2d 119 (2013); DeKalb County Sch. Dist. v. Ga. State Bd. of Educ., 294 Ga. 349, 751 S.E.2d 827 (2013); Ga. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Addison, 304 Ga. 425, 819 S.E.2d 20 (2018); Amusement Leasing, Inc. v. Ga. Lottery Corp., 352 Ga. App. 243, 834 S.E.2d 330 (2019).

Purpose and intent of the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 1, is not to create additional substantive requirements in what is cause for revocations of a license by an administrative agency; rather, the purpose and intent of that law is to provide uniform, minimum procedural requirements to be followed by an administrative agency in determining the legal rights, duties, or privileges of a party in a matter in which the particular agency regulates and to which the law applies. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 65-73.

- Administrative agency may proceed to revoke license of licensee in conformity with the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 1 and the fact that the licensee shows at the agency's proceedings that the licensee is momentarily complying with all lawful requirements for the retention of the license would be immaterial; the real question to be resolved by the agency's proceedings would be whether the licensee had been in noncompliance with all lawful requirements for the retention of the license at the time that the licensee is alleged to have been in noncompliance with such requirements. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 65-73.

1A Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice Forms, Administrative Law, § 1 et seq.