---
title: O.C.G.A. § 45-10-1. Code of ethics for government service generally — Establishment and text.
collection: code
id: 45-10-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 45-10-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-10-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-10-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-10-1/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t45-(v33)-2016-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=cde47f8a_0#page=237
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: PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES / CODES OF ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST / CODES OF ETHICS
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---

# O.C.G.A. § 45-10-1. Code of ethics for government service generally — Establishment and text.

There is established for and within the state and for and in all governments therein a code of ethics for government service which shall read as follows:

CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Any person in government service should:

I. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or government department.

II. Uphold the Constitution, laws, and legal regulations of the United States and the State of Georgia and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.

III. Give a full day’s labor for a full day’s pay and give to the performance of his duties his earnest effort and best thought.

IV. Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.

V. Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not, and never accept, for himself or his family, favors or benefits under circumstances which might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the performance of his governmental duties.

VI. Make no private promises of any kind binding upon the duties of office, since a government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.

VII. Engage in no business with the government, either directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of his governmental duties.

VIII. Never use any information coming to him confidentially in the performance of governmental duties as a means for making private profit.

IX. Expose corruption wherever discovered.

X. Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.

## History

Ga. L. 1968, p. 1369.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘Conflicts of Interests of Public Officers and Employees,’’ see 13 Ga. St. B.J. 64 (1976). For article, ‘‘Georgia’s New Ethics Laws: A Summary of the Changes Relevant to Lobbyists and Legislators,’’ see 11 Ga. St. B.J. 22 (No. 4, 2005).