SB292: SB292 Business Corporations; domestic corporations maintaining a principal place of business in Georgia shall be deemed to reside; provide

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 14-2-510), a corporation sued for a tort (a civil wrong like negligence) can be sued in the county where the harm occurred, as long as the company has an office and does business there. This bill adds a new option: if a lawsuit is based only on that rule, the company could file a notice within 45 days to move the case to the county where it keeps its principal place of business. Courts could reject an improper move if the plaintiff challenges it in time. The bill also adds a rule for domestic (Georgia-based) corporations whose real headquarters is different from their official registered office. In that situation, the company would be considered a legal resident of, and subject to lawsuits in, the county with its actual headquarters. The location of a company's registered agent alone could not be used to decide where that headquarters is. The changes would take effect July 1, 2025, and apply to cases arising on or after that date.

• Adds a new venue rule letting a company sued for a tort (a civil wrong) remove the case to the county where it keeps its principal place of business, if venue was based only on where the harm occurred.
• Sets a 45 day deadline for the company to file that removal notice and a matching 45 day window for the person suing to challenge an improper removal.
• Pauses (tolls) the 45 day removal deadline while a removal challenge is pending, until the court rules or the challenge period runs out.
• Creates a rule that a Georgia-based corporation with a real headquarters different from its official registered office is legally located, for lawsuit purposes, in the county of that headquarters.
• Bars courts from deciding where a corporation's headquarters is based only on where its registered agent lives or works.
• Sets the changes to take effect July 1, 2025 and apply only to cases that arise on or after that date.

The bill affects businesses incorporated or operating in Georgia, especially companies whose registered agent address differs from their actual headquarters, along with people who sue those companies for damages and the county courts that hear those lawsuits.

Where a lawsuit is filed can affect which jury pool hears the case, travel and cost burdens for both sides, and how quickly a case moves. This bill gives corporations a new way to shift certain tort cases to their headquarters county and clarifies which county counts as a company's legal home.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 14-2-510(b) by adding paragraph (4), letting a corporation sued only under the tort-location venue rule remove the case to the county of its principal place of business.
• The new paragraph requires the removal notice within 45 days of being served, and lets the plaintiff ask the court to send the case back if removal was improper, also within 45 days.
• The removal deadline is tolled (paused) while a remand motion is pending, until the court rules or the plaintiff's challenge window expires, whichever comes first.
• Section 1 also adds subsection (e), stating that a domestic corporation with a principal place of business separate from its registered office is deemed to reside in the county of that principal place of business.
• Subsection (e) specifically bars courts from basing that headquarters determination solely on the location of the company's registered agent.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, applying only to causes of action accruing on or after that date.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)Primary sponsor
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)

• business law
• civil lawsuits
• corporate venue rules
• court jurisdiction