---
title: Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. X, Para. I. Effect of ratification.
collection: code
id: ga-const:art-vi-sec-x-para-i
cite_as: Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. X, Para. I
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-vi-sec-x-para-i
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-vi-sec-x-para-i.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-vi-sec-x-para-i/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=1159
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-vi-sec-ix-para-ii.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-vi-sec-x-para-ii.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 / JUDICIAL BRANCH / TRANSITION
---

# Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. X, Para. I. Effect of ratification.

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.

On the effective date of this article:

(1) Superior courts shall continue as superior courts.

(2) State courts shall continue as state courts.

(3) Probate courts shall continue as probate courts.

(4) Juvenile courts shall continue as juvenile courts.

(5) Municipal courts not otherwise named herein, of whatever name, shall continue as and be denominated municipal courts, except that the City Court of Atlanta shall retain its name. Such municipal courts, county recorder’s courts, the Civil Courts of Richmond and Bibb counties, and administrative agencies having quasi-judicial powers shall continue with the same jurisdiction as such courts and agencies have on the effective date of this article until otherwise provided by law.

(6) Justice of the peace courts, small claims courts, and magistrate courts operating on the effective date of this Constitution and the County Court of Echols County shall become and be classified as magistrate courts. The County Court of Baldwin County and the County Court of Putnam County shall become and be classified as state courts, with the same jurisdiction and powers as other state courts.

## Cross References

Effective date of Constitution, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. XI, Sec. I, Para. VI. State courts, § 15-7-1 et seq. Magistrate courts, § 15-10-1 et seq. Establishment of municipal courts and change of name of existing courts with municipal jurisdiction, § 36-32-1.

## Law Reviews

For annual survey article, ‘‘‘Garbage In, Garbage Out’: The Litigation Implosion Over the Unconstitutional Organization and Jurisdiction of the City Court of Atlanta,’’ see 52 Mercer L. Rev. 49 (2000).

## 1976 Constitution.

Art. VI, Sec. IV, Para. XI; Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. I.

## This Paragraph Effectively Extinstate Misdemeanor Traffic Offenses.

Under the 1983 Georgia Constitution, the recorder’s courts continue to possess limited jurisdiction over state misdemeanor traffic offenses until otherwise provided by law. Wojcik v. State, 260 Ga. 260, 392 S.E.2d 525 (1990).

## City Traffic Courts.

Trial of defendant in the Atlanta Traffic Court, a City court which sits in the Fulton County portion of Atlanta, was improper where the state proved that the alleged offense took place in the city of Atlanta but did not offer any proof that it occurred in Fulton County; defendant is entitled to be tried in the county in which the offense was alleged to have occurred. Waller v. State, 231 Ga. App. 323, 498 S.E.2d 362 (1998).

Cited in Smith v. Greene, 274 Ga. 815, 559 S.E.2d 726 (2002).