---
title: O.C.G.A. § 48-4-23. County tax commissioners and certain employees prohibited from purchasing property offered for sale under tax executions or tax foreclosure proceedings; criminal penalties.
collection: code
id: 48-4-23
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 48-4-23 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-4-23
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-4-23.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-4-23/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t48-ch1-6-(v36)-2024-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=2edc88a7_0#page=220
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.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-4.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-4-22.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-4-40.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: REVENUE AND TAXATION / TAX SALES / PURCHASE BY COUNTIES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 48-4-23. County tax commissioners and certain employees prohibited from purchasing property offered for sale under tax executions or tax foreclosure proceedings; criminal penalties.

(a) A tax commissioner and any person employed in the office of the tax commissioner working on behalf of the tax commissioner shall not, directly or indirectly, acquire an interest in, buy, or profit from any real property sold at public auction by the county for which such tax commissioner or employee thereof serves for delinquent taxes, except that such tax commissioner or employee thereof may purchase property sold at public auction for delinquent taxes if such tax commissioner or employee has any ownership interest in the property and had an ownership interest in the property at the time the taxes became delinquent.

(b) Any person who violates subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for a period of not more than one year, by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00, or both.

(c) Any sale, transfer, or acquisition of interest in any real property in violation of this Code section shall be void.

## History

Code 1981, § 48-4-23, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 111, § 1/HB 222.

## Law Reviews

For survey article on local government law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 285 (2007).