---
title: O.C.G.A. § 9-4-5. Filing and service; time of trial; drawing of jury.
collection: code
id: 9-4-5
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 9-4-5 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-4-5
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-4-5.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-4-5/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t9-ch1-10-(v6)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=575194c5_0#page=24
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: Effective July 1, 2026.
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CIVIL PRACTICE / DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS
extraction_warnings:
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---

# O.C.G.A. § 9-4-5. Filing and service; time of trial; drawing of jury.

A proceeding instituted under this chapter shall be filed and served as are other cases in the superior courts of this state or in the Georgia State-wide Business Court or the Georgia Tax Court; provided, however, that a proceeding instituted in the probate court pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 15-9-127 shall be filed and served in the manner provided for proceedings in the probate courts of this state in Chapter 11 of Title 53. A proceeding instituted under this chapter may be tried at any time designated by the court not earlier than 20 days after the service thereof, unless the parties consent in writing to an earlier trial. If there is an issue of fact that requires a submission to a jury, the jury may be drawn, summoned, and sworn either in regular term or specially for the pending case.

## History

Ga. L. 1945, p. 137, § 4; Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 3-2/HB 239; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 2-5/HB 865; Ga. L. 2024, p. 888, § 2-7/HB 1267, effective July 1, 2026.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 888, § 4-1(a)/HB 1267, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the 2024 amendments to this Code section shall only become effective on July 1, 2026, upon the ratification of a resolution at the November, 2024, state-wide general election that amends the Constitution so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for the establishment of the Georgia Tax Court with state-wide jurisdiction. If such a resolution is not so ratified, then the amendments to this Code section shall not become effective and shall stand repealed on January 1, 2025. The constitutional amendment proposed in Ga. L. 2024, p. 1189, authorizing the establishment of the state-wide Georgia Tax Court, was approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting at the general election held on November 5, 2024.

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2026, inserted “or the Georgia Tax Court” in the first sentence of this Code section.

## Delayed Effective Date

Code Section 9-4-5 is set out twice in this Code. This version is effective July 1, 2026. For version effective until July 1, 2026, see the preceding version.