--- title: Ga. Const. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. III. Qualifications of members of General Assembly. collection: code id: ga-const:art-iii-sec-ii-para-iii cite_as: Ga. Const. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. III canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-iii md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-iii.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-iii/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/2ga-const-(v2)-2016-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=f5de823e_0#page=810 date: 2016 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/constitution/ga/index.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-ii.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-iv.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: CONSTITUTION OF THE / LEGISLATIVE BRANCH / COMPOSITION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY --- # Ga. Const. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. III. Qualifications of members of General Assembly. A constitution provision shown as in force is in force as printed in the volume. A court decision can make a printed provision unenforceable without changing the volume, and the volume does not record that. (a) At the time of their election, the members of the Senate shall be citizens of the United States, shall be at least 25 years of age, shall have been citizens of this state for at least two years, and shall have been legal residents of the territory embraced within the district from which elected for at least one year. (b) At the time of their election, the members of the House of Representatives shall be citizens of the United States, shall be at least 21 years of age, shall have been citizens of this state for at least two years, and shall have been legal residents of the territory embraced within the district from which elected for at least one year. ## Cross References Disqualifications for office, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. II, Sec. II, Para. III; and Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. II, Para. IV. Persons ineligible to hold public office or act as election officials, § 21-2-8. Eligibility requirements of candidates, §§ 21-2-132, 21-2-153. Restriction on number of offices for which an individual may be nominated or be a candidate at any one election, § 21-2-136. Qualifications for Representatives, § 28-2-1. Qualifications for Senators, § 28-2-2. ## 1976 Constitution. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II; Art. III, Sec. III, Para. II. ## Inclusive. There is nothing in the Georgia Constitution which limits qualifications of a legislator to those expressed herein. These qualifications and disqualifications of legislators are not all inclusive. Bond v. Floyd, 251 F. Supp. 333 (N.D. Ga.), rev’d on other grounds, 385 U.S. 116, 87 S. Ct. 339, 17 L. Ed. 2d 235 (1966). ## Candidate on Ballot in Special con-Residency Requirement for Repreimmediately Preceding Election. The requirement in Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. II, Para. III(b) that at the time of their election, the members of the House of Representatives shall have been legal residents of the territory embraced within the district from which elected for at least one year means for at least one year immediately preceding the election. 1989 Op. Att’y Gen. 89-31. One-year residency requirement for Representatives must be met by date of election. 1981 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U81-28. ## Waiver of Durational Residency Requirement. There is no authority that would permit the waiver of the Constitution’s durational residency requirement. 2001 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U2001-3. Areas previously included in the ## District. Residency requirement for Representatives applies to candidate moving into district from area previously, but no longer, included in district. 1981 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U81-28. Reapportionment does not alter ## Residency Requirement. Nothing in this paragraph provides an exception to the one-year residency requirement for Representatives due to reapportionment of the district. 1981 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U81-28. ## Am. Jur. 2d. 72 Am. Jur. 2d, States, Territories, and Dependencies, §§ 38 et seq., 57 et seq. ## Alr. Nonregistration as affecting one’s qualification to hold public office, 128 ALR 1117. Validity of requirement that candidate or public officer have been resident of governmental unit for specified period, 65 ALR3d 1048.