The Official Code of Georgia Annotated, abbreviated O.C.G.A., is the state-authorized compilation of every general law passed by the Georgia General Assembly, organized by subject and paired with court summaries, historical notes, and cross-references. It is the only codification of Georgia law that carries the force of enacted statutes, which is why court filings, contracts, and legal research in Georgia all cite to it.
What Carries the Force of Law
The General Assembly enacted the code through O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1, which provides that the statutory text along with the numbering and arrangement system are law.1Justia. Georgia Code 1-1-1 – Enactment of Code The annotations that follow each statute are not. Case summaries, history lines, cross-references, and Attorney General opinion summaries are research aids added by the publisher under the Code Revision Commission’s supervision. Useful, but not binding.
That distinction was tested in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., decided by the United States Supreme Court in April 2020. The Court held that because the annotations were created under the direction of a legislative body in the course of its official duties, the government edicts doctrine placed them outside copyright protection.2Supreme Court of the United States. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. The practical result: the entire O.C.G.A., statutes and annotations alike, sits in the public domain and can be freely reproduced.
How the Numbering Works
The code uses a three-unit system built around titles, chapters, and sections. There are 53 titles, each covering a broad subject. Title 16 covers crimes and offenses, Title 19 covers domestic relations, and Title 48 covers revenue and taxation.3Georgia General Assembly. User’s Guide to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated Titles are divided into chapters where appropriate, chapters into articles, articles into parts, and parts into subparts.
Read a citation left to right and you know exactly where to look. In O.C.G.A. § 2-5-1, the “2” is the title, the “5” is the chapter, and the “1” is the section. In O.C.G.A. § 44-7-1, you are in Title 44 (Property), Chapter 7, Section 1, which defines the landlord-tenant relationship.4Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-1 – Creation of Landlord and Tenant Relationship; Rights of Tenant; Construction of Lease for Less Than Five Years
What the Annotations Add
The supplementary material behind each section is what makes the “Annotated” version worth using over a plain statute list.
- Case summaries. Short descriptions of Georgia appellate decisions interpreting the statute, grouped by topic, so you can locate precedent without searching case databases from scratch.
- History lines. Citations tracing the statute’s origin through the Georgia Laws volumes and prior code compilations, with each amendment marked.3Georgia General Assembly. User’s Guide to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated
- Cross-references. Pointers to related provisions elsewhere in the code, placed at the front of the annotations for a title, chapter, or section.
- Attorney General opinion summaries. Brief digests of formal AG opinions on how state agencies should apply specific provisions.
None of this has been voted on by the General Assembly. A case summary might send you to the right opinion, but the opinion itself, not the summary, is what a court will accept.
Where to Read the Code
Free Online
Georgia provides free public access through a LexisNexis-hosted portal linked from the General Assembly’s website at www.legis.ga.gov. For years the free version contained only unannotated statutory text, and the dissent in the 2020 copyright case warned that citizens relying on the unannotated code did so “at their peril” because it lacked notes about provisions struck down by courts.2Supreme Court of the United States. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. Since the ruling eliminated copyright restrictions on the annotations, the current online version lists all 53 titles with their full content. Verify you are viewing the most current version and watch for recent legislative changes that may not yet appear online.
Libraries
The complete hardbound set is available at county law libraries across Georgia and at the Georgia State Law Library in Atlanta. Many public universities and some local public libraries keep sets as well. Library copies carry the full annotations, history lines, and Attorney General opinions, and they are identical to what judges and attorneys use.
Buying a Copy
The 54-volume hardbound set, including the index volume, is available from LexisNexis at a retail price of $507.5LexisNexis Store. Official Code of Georgia Annotated Keeping the set current means buying annual supplements. Many attorneys skip print and use paid databases like Westlaw or Lexis+ for keyword searching, but the physical volumes remain the format that carries the Secretary of State’s certification.
Checking Supplements and Pocket Parts
The General Assembly meets every year, so the code changes every year. Instead of reprinting all 54 volumes, the publisher issues pocket parts, thin pamphlets tucked inside the back cover of each hardbound volume, or standalone softbound supplements. These carry the newly adopted laws, amendments, and repeals from the most recent session. A new hardbound volume replaces the old one only when the accumulated supplements grow too thick to fit.
This is where research goes wrong most often. Reading only the main hardbound text and skipping the pocket part can leave you relying on a statute that has already been amended or repealed. Check the supplement first. If no supplement exists for that volume, the hardbound text is current.
How to Cite the Georgia Code
Basic Format
Under O.C.G.A. § 1-1-8, “O.C.G.A.” is the official shorthand, and any reference to “O.C.G.A.” in a public or private document is construed to mean the state-authorized version.6Justia. Georgia Code 1-1-8 – References to State Law or This Code A standard citation looks like this:
O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 (2026)
The “9” is the title (Civil Practice), “11” is the chapter, and “56” is the section. The year in parentheses identifies which edition you are citing, which matters when statutes have changed over time.3Georgia General Assembly. User’s Guide to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated
Subsections and Deeper Levels
To point at a specific provision inside a section, the code uses a layered designation system enacted as part of the statutory text itself:1Justia. Georgia Code 1-1-1 – Enactment of Code
- Subsection: lowercase letter in parentheses, such as (a), (b), (c).
- Paragraph: Arabic numeral in parentheses, such as (1), (2), (3).
- Subparagraph: uppercase letter in parentheses, such as (A), (B), (C).
- Division: lowercase Roman numeral in parentheses, such as (i), (ii), (iii).
- Subdivision: uppercase Roman numeral in parentheses, such as (I), (II), (III).
A citation to a specific paragraph might read O.C.G.A. § 1-1-8(e) (2026). Each layer narrows the reference so no one has to guess which part of the statute you mean.
Session Laws
Sometimes you need to cite the law as originally passed rather than its codified location, such as when an act has not yet been incorporated into the code or when you are tracing legislative history. Georgia session laws sit in the Georgia Laws volumes and are cited by year and page:
Ga. L. 1977, p. 396
“Ga. L.” stands for Georgia Laws, followed by the year and the page number in that year’s volume.3Georgia General Assembly. User’s Guide to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated Not every act passed by the General Assembly ends up codified. Local legislation, temporary measures, and appropriations acts that apply only once stay in the session law volumes, and the session law citation is the only way to reference those provisions.
When New Laws Take Effect
Knowing when a newly passed law becomes enforceable matters as much as knowing what it says. Under O.C.G.A. § 1-3-4, any act approved by the Governor, or becoming law without the Governor’s signature, between January 1 and June 30 takes effect on July 1 of that year. Any act approved between July 1 and December 31 takes effect the following January 1.7Justia. Georgia Code 1-3-4 – Effective Date of Legislative Acts
These defaults apply only when the act itself does not set a different date. Significant legislation often carries its own effective date, which controls. Local legislation and resolutions intended to have the effect of law are treated separately: they take effect immediately upon the Governor’s approval unless the act says otherwise.7Justia. Georgia Code 1-3-4 – Effective Date of Legislative Acts If you find a newly passed act in the Georgia Laws volumes but it has not yet appeared in the O.C.G.A. supplements, check the effective date before treating it as current law.