---
title: O.C.G.A. § 15-9-4. Additional judicial eligibility requirements in certain counties.
collection: code
id: 15-9-4
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 15-9-4 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-9-4
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-9-4.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-9-4/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t15-ch1-11a-(v13)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=9c57686b_0#page=92
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COURTS / PROBATE COURTS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
extraction_warnings:
  - dehyphenation_unverified:over-turned
  - bound_version_dropped:For effective date, see note.
---

# O.C.G.A. § 15-9-4. Additional judicial eligibility requirements in certain counties.

(a) No individual elected judge of the probate court in any county provided for in this Code section shall engage in the private practice of law.

(b)(1) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (c) of this Code section, in any county of this state having a population of more than 90,000 persons according to the United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census and in which the probate court of such county meets the definition of a probate court as provided by Article 6 of this chapter, no individual shall be judge of the probate court unless at the time of qualification, in addition to the qualifications required by law, he or she:

(A) Has attained the age of 30 years;

(B) Has been admitted to practice law for seven years; and

(C) Is a member in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia, and has been duly reinstated to the practice of law in the event of his or her disbarment therefrom.

(2) In addition to and not in lieu of the affidavit required to be filed at qualification pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section 15-9-2, each individual offering as a candidate for the office of judge of the probate court in any county of this state to whom paragraph (1) of this subsection is applicable shall file a supplemental affidavit with the officer before whom such individual has qualified to seek the office of judge of the probate court prior to or at the time of qualifying as a candidate. The supplemental affidavit shall affirm that the individual meets all the qualifications required by subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(c) A judge of the probate court holding such office on or after June 30, 2000, shall continue to hold such office and shall be allowed to seek reelection for such office. Notwithstanding the requirement that in certain counties the judge of the probate court be admitted to practice law for seven years preceding election, no decision, judgment, ruling, or other official action of any judge of the probate court shall be overturned, denied, or overruled based solely on this requirement for qualification, election, and holding the office of judge of the probate court.

## History

Code 1933, § 24-1711.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 2739, §§ 1, 2, 2A; Ga. L. 1959, p. 358, § 1; Ga. L. 1971, p. 3065, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 954, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1581, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 406, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1665, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 811, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 827, § 2/HB 495; Ga. L. 2012, p. 683, § 1/HB 534; Ga. L. 2018, p. 356, § 1-5/SB 436; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 2-14/HB 865; Ga. L. 2025, p. 623, § 1/HB 180, effective July 1, 2025.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, rewrote subsection (b) and inserted a comma following “ruling” in the second sentence of subsection (c).