2021 Georgia Code
Title 50 - State Government
Chapter 13 - Administrative Procedure
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 50-13-23. Determining Date When Documents Received by or Filed With Agencies
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any document required by law, rule, or regulation to be received by or filed with any agency pursuant to the requirements of this chapter shall be deemed to be received by or filed with such agency on the earlier of: (1) the date such document is actually received by such agency; (2) the official postmark date such document was mailed, properly addressed with postage prepaid, by registered or certified mail; or (3) the date on which such document was delivered to a commercial delivery company for statutory overnight delivery as provided in Code Section 9-10-12 as evidenced by the receipt provided by the commercial delivery company.
(Code 1981, §50-13-23, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1301, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 14.)
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 16, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to this Code section is applicable with respect to notices delivered on or after July 1, 2000.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Timeliness of mailing.
- Under O.C.G.A. § 50-13-23, the date on which a document is postmarked, rather than the date on which the document is mailed, is determinative of the document's timeliness; thus, in deciding whether the mailing of a request for a hearing was made within the time limit of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1(g), the trial court erred in determining that the date on which the document was mailed was controlling. Department of Pub. Safety v. Ramey, 215 Ga. App. 334, 450 S.E.2d 332 (1994).
Georgia Civil Practice Act's three-day rule under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-6(e) was inapplicable to a determination of timeliness with respect to a petition for judicial review of a Medicaid applicant's claim for benefits, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-13-19. Similarly, the certified mail rule under O.C.G.A. § 50-13-23 was expressly deemed inapplicable pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 49-4-153(c) and, accordingly, the applicant's petition was properly denied as untimely. Gladowski v. Dep't of Family & Children Servs., 281 Ga. App. 299, 635 S.E.2d 886 (2006).
