Georgia CommonsArticle III. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH · Article III. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH · Section IV. ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Art. III, Sec. IV, Para. I. Meeting, time limit, and adjournment.
Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
- (a)
The Senate and House of Representatives shall organize each odd-numbered year and shall be a different General Assembly for each two-year period. The General Assembly shall meet in regular session on the second Monday in January of each year, or otherwise as provided by law, and may continue in session for a period of no longer than 40 days in the aggregate each year. By concurrent resolution, the General Assembly may adjourn any regular session to such later date as it may fix for reconvening. Separate periods of adjournment may be fixed by one or more such concurrent resolutions.#
- (b)
Neither house shall adjourn during a regular session for more than three days or meet in any place other than the state capitol without the consent of the other. Following the fifth day of a special session, either house may adjourn not more than twice for a period not to exceed seven days for each such adjournment. In the event either house, after the thirtieth day of any session, adopts a resolution to adjourn for a specified period of time and such resolution and any amendments thereto are not adopted by both houses by the end of the legislative day on which adjournment was called for in such resolution, the Governor may adjourn both houses for a period of time not to exceed ten days.#
- (c)
If an impeachment trial is pending at the end of any session, the House shall adjourn and the Senate shall remain in session until such trial is completed.#
Editor's notes
The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1988, p. 2114, § 2) which would have revised subparagraph (a) to change the terms of office from two years to four years, was defeated at the general election on November 8, 1988.
Cross references
Impeachment, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. VII. Meeting time and place, § 28-1-2.
Other notes
- 1976 Constitution.
- Art. III, Sec. V, Paras. III, VI.
- Paragraph binding as to time limitation.
- Failure on part of either house, or of both, to conform to constitutional requirements relating to adjournment, when attempting to adjourn sine die, will not abrogate or modify the limitation of 60 days (now 40 days) fixed by this paragraph. Bunger v. State, 146 Ga. 672, 92 S.E. 72 (1917). Cited in Wood v. Arnall, 189 Ga. 362, 6 S.E.2d 722 (1939); Smith v. McMichael, 203 Ga. 74, 45 S.E.2d 431 (1947); Glustrom v. State, 206 Ga. 734, 58 S.E.2d 534 (1950); Maddox v. Fortson, 226 Ga. 71, 172 S.E.2d 595 (1970).
- Necessity to reintroduce bills.
- Bills introduced at the January session of the General Assembly are required to be reintroduced at the coming session of the General Assembly where there was a lapse of the previous legislative session. 1957 Op. Att’y Gen. p. 155.
- Am. Jur. 2d.
- 72 Am. Jur. 2d, States, Territories, and Dependencies, § 44 et seq.
- C.J.S.
- 81A C.J.S., States, § 109 et seq.
- ALR.
- Power of Legislature or branch thereof as to time of assembling, and length of session, 56 ALR 721.
Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).
Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Text read from 2ga-const-(v2)-2016-pdf.pdf, Volume V2, 2016 edition, pages 816 to 817; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 1b27199d8655.
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