SB 189: Department of Community Affairs; to develop and maintain a publicly accessible data base of legal notices; provide

Georgia law currently requires many legal notices, such as government or court announcements, to be published in a newspaper called a legal organ. This bill would require the Department of Community Affairs, if the General Assembly provides funding, to build and run a public website where those same legal notices are also posted. Posting on the database would be mandatory in addition to newspaper publication in most cases, not a replacement for it. The bill sets technical requirements for the database, including posting uploaded notices within 24 hours, letting the public search and read notices on mobile devices, and offering account notifications and certified copies for a fee capped at $25 per notice. In a narrow exception, if a county's legal organ has no local office to handle publication, or if a published notice contains an error, posting the corrected or original notice on the database can substitute for newspaper publication. The department may also charge fees for retrieving older, archived notices and can adopt rules to run the system.

• Requires the Department of Community Affairs to build and operate a public online database of legal notices, but only if the legislature funds it.
• Makes posting on the database mandatory in addition to existing newspaper publication requirements for legal notices.
• Caps the standard publication fee for posting a notice on the database at $25.00.
• Allows database posting to substitute for newspaper publication when a county's legal organ has no local office, or when correcting an error in a published notice.
• Lets the department charge extra fees for notification accounts and for retrieving notices older than one year, called archival notices.
• Authorizes the department to adopt rules and regulations to administer the new database.

The Department of Community Affairs, which would build and run the database; county legal organs and other newspapers that currently publish legal notices; local governments and individuals required to publish legal notices; and members of the public who search for notices such as foreclosure, probate, or zoning announcements.

Georgians who rely on legal notices, such as those tracking foreclosures, estate proceedings, or local government actions, would gain a searchable online source alongside newspaper listings. Newspapers would keep their publication role in most cases, but counties without an active legal organ office could shift entirely to the online database.

• New Code Section 50-8-19(a) makes the database contingent on the General Assembly appropriating funding for it.
• Subsection (b) makes database posting mandatory and additional to other notice requirements, except as specified, and clarifies it does not satisfy notice required under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-14.
• Subsection (c) lists required features: electronic uploads, online fee payment capped at $25 per notice, posting within 24 hours, mobile-friendly search, notification accounts, and certified copies.
• Subsection (d) allows database posting to serve as lawful publication in place of a county's legal organ if that legal organ has no office in the county, as long as it is posted by the legal deadline.
• Subsection (e) allows a corrected notice posted on the database to satisfy legal notice requirements if an error occurred in the newspaper version.
• Subsection (f) defines 'archival notice' as one posted for over one year and lets the department charge fees to search and retrieve it.
• Subsection (g) authorizes the department to adopt rules and regulations to implement the database.

1. 2025-02-19Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-18Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)

• legal notices
• open government
• newspapers
• local government transparency
• public records