---
title: SB 292. Business Corporations; domestic corporations maintaining a principal place of business in Georgia shall be deemed to reside; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb292
cite_as: SB 292, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb292
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb292.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb292/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70917
date: 2025-02-27
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb292.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 292
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-26
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
  - Emanuel Jones
  - Gail Davenport
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB292/2025
upstream_id: 1986102
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - business law
  - civil lawsuits
  - corporate venue rules
  - court jurisdiction
---

# SB 292. Business Corporations; domestic corporations maintaining a principal place of business in Georgia shall be deemed to reside; provide

## Text

Senate Bill 292
By: Senators Jones of the 10th and Davenport of the 17th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 2 of Article 5 of Chapter 2 of Title 14 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to venue relative to business corporations, so as to provide that certain
domestic corporations maintaining a principal place of business in Georgia shall be deemed
to reside and to be subject to venue in the county in Georgia where the defendant maintains
such principal place of business; to provide for determinations regarding the principal place
of business for certain domestic corporations; to provide for statutory construction; to
provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 2 of Article 5 of Chapter 2 of Title 14 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to venue relative to business corporations, is amended by revising Code Section
14-2-510, relating to venue, as follows:
"14-2-510.
(a) Venue in proceedings against a corporation shall be determined in accordance with the
pertinent constitutional and statutory provisions of this state in effect as of July 1, 1989, or
thereafter.
(b) Each domestic corporation and each foreign corporation authorized to transact business
in this state shall be deemed to reside and to be subject to venue as follows:
(1) In civil proceedings generally, in the county of this state where the corporation
maintains its registered office; or if the corporation fails to maintain a registered office,
it shall be deemed to reside in the county where its last named registered office or
principal office, as shown by the records of the Secretary of State, was maintained;
(2) In actions based on contracts, in that county in this state where the contract to be
enforced was made or is to be performed, if the corporation has an office and transacts
business in that county;
(3) In actions for damages because of torts, wrong, or injury done, in the county where
the cause of action originated, if the corporation has an office and transacts business in
that county;
(4) In actions for damages because of torts, wrong, or injury done, in the county where
the cause of action originated. If venue is based solely on this paragraph, the defendant
shall have the right to remove the action to the county in Georgia where the defendant
maintains its principal place of business. A notice of removal shall be filed within 45
days of service of the summons. Upon motion by the plaintiff filed within 45 days of the
removal, the court to which the case is removed may remand the case to the original court
if it finds that removal is improper under the provisions of this paragraph. Upon the
defendant's filing of a notice of removal, the 45 day time period for filing such notice
shall be tolled until the remand, the entry of an order by the court determining that the
removal is valid, or the expiration of the time period for the plaintiff to file a motion
challenging the removal, whichever occurs first; and
(5) In garnishment proceedings, in the county of this state in which is located the
corporate office or place of business where the employee who is the defendant in the
main action is employed.
(c) Any residences established by this Code section shall be in addition to, and not in
limitation of, any other residence that any domestic or foreign corporation may have by
reason of other laws.
(d) Whenever this chapter either requires or permits a proceeding to be brought in the
county where the registered office of the corporation is maintained, if the proceeding is
against a corporation having a principal office as required under a prior general corporation
law, the action or proceeding may be brought in the county where the principal office is
located.
<ins>(e) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this chapter that either requires or
permits a proceeding to be brought in the county where the registered office of a domestic
corporation is maintained, if the proceeding is against a domestic corporation maintaining
a principal place of business in this state that is separate and distinct from the registered
office maintained by such domestic corporation, then such domestic corporation shall be
deemed to reside and to be subject to venue in the county in Georgia where the defendant
maintains such principal place of business. For purposes of this subsection, no
determination as to the location of a domestic corporation's principal place of business shall
be based exclusively on the location of the residence or business office of such
corporation's registered agent."
</ins> SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025, and shall apply to all causes of action
accruing on or after such date.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia Senate bill would let corporations sued for damages move the case to the county where they have their main office, and would treat a company's true headquarters, not just its registered agent's address, as its legal home for lawsuits.

### Plain-language summary

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.

### What it does

- 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.

### Who it affects

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.

### Why it matters

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.

### Key provisions

- 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.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-02-26)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-27)
- Sponsors: Emanuel Jones, Gail Davenport
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70917

> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb292.md?full=1