Georgia Update
From the 50 State Visitor Guide :
2019 O.C.G.A. §§42-1-12 through 42-1-19
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-18.
Registration Triggers and Deadlines:
Registration required within 72 hours of establishing a residence or entering the state. §42-1-12(f). Visitors: registration required if in the state for 14 consecutive days, or for more than 30 days in calendar year. §42-1-12(e)(7).
Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:
All persons required to register may not reside, loiter, or be employed within 1,000 ft. of child care facility, church, school, or “area where minors congregate” defined to “include all public & private parks & recreation facilities, playgrounds, skating rinks, neighborhood centers, gymnasiums, school bus stops, public libraries, & public & community swimming pools” §42-1-12(3). Certain employment restrictions apply. §§42-1-15 through 42-1-17. It is a misdemeanor to intentionally photograph a minor in Georgia without parental consent. §42-1-18. Persons deemed to be a “sexually dangerous predator” (level 3) are required to wear (and pay for) a GPS monitor for lifetime. Added Aug. 2024 However, visitors are not “required to register.” Updated Aug. 2024.
Visiting Registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED. (per Rolfe Survey and confirmed by state registry office).
Duration & updates:
Life. Sexually Dangerous Predator updates every 6 months. All others update annually within 72 hours of birthday.
Registry removal restrictions:
Per NARSOL Digest Aug/Sep 2024 pp.13-14: SB 493 (effective 7/1/24) makes 2 changes:
1. Some registrants 80+ yrs old may petition for removal.
2. Those with out-of-state offenses must have been removed “in another state,” presumably the state where offended. This makes Georgia a “whichever is longer” state by petition for all convictions after 7/1/24. Updated Sept. 2024
2024 Georgia Update – Fewer restrictions on visitors
Here at Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler, we (I have an assistant now, so I can refer to us as plural) … anyway, our commitment is to re-research and update our state-by-state information not less than once every two years. 2024 is one of those update years, and it turns out there’s news to report in Georgia.
In 2020 I called every state SOR office and spoke to anyone who would answer the phone during a pandemic. One question I asked every SOR office was: While I am in your state as a visitor and leaving before the end of your grace period (GA = 14 days), do your residency and presence restrictions (which in GA are many and horrible) apply to me as a visitor? In 2020, Georgia was among states that answered “yes” to that question.
However, since 2020 the GA SOR office has completely changed its tune. In 2022 they said the weirdest thing ever – that any restrictions applying to you in your home state will apply to you while in Georgia. After I hung up the phone I laughed and asked myself, how the hell are you going to enforce that? Are my restrictions different if I’m coming from my home in Iowa vs. Florida?
By this year the GA SOR office has come full circle – now they say residency & presence restrictions DO NOT apply during the 14 day grace period. Apparently, GA law enforcement has concluded that trying to inflict all their oppressive requirements on unwitting tourists is a waste of their time and resources. Wow! – stop making sense!
To me, however, the most important point is – they figured this out all by themselves. Nobody pushed them or lobbied them. Nobody begged or pleaded with them. And the thought occurs to me – if Georgia law enforcement, of all people, can figure out the stupidity of arresting hapless tourists on bogus charges – well, maybe with a little help, law enforcement agencies in other states can figure this out too.
If there is anyone out there with a good enough relationship with Georgia law enforcement to inquire as to how they were able to come to this relatively humane decision, we at Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler would really appreciate your help. Maybe together we can spread logic and reason to other state SOR offices.
… but making it harder to get removed
I think people from other parts of the US may be somewhat surprised by this, but in my experience (at group therapy, meet & greets etc.) Georgia has enjoyed an undeserved reputation as some kind of beacon on the hill among Florida registrants – mainly because even though their registry totally sucks, they have at least until now always had a provision allowing those with so-called “low level offenses” an opportunity to apply to be removed from their registry (whereas Florida is famously lifetime with no chance of getting off).
Because of this, rumors have spread that (I’m sure you’ve all heard similar of bullshit before no matter where you live) all you have to do is move to Georgia and get off the registry and all your problems will magically disappear. I actually looked into this by calling a GA attorney who spoke at a NARSOL conference, and he made it clear these rumors are false. Nobody gets away with flying into Atlanta and heading to the nearest courthouse to get off the registry. This attorney opined that if you have at least 5 years residency in Georgia, a judge might be willing to entertain your application. Meanwhile you get to live with all the horrors of being a Georgia registrant.
And now the Georgia legislature has closed even this tiny loophole. As reported in the NARSOL Digest, Aug/Sep 2024 pp.13-14 (and posted on our “Former and Long-term Registrant Chart”), SB 493 (effective 7/1/24) makes 2 changes –
1. Some registrants 80+ yrs old may petition for removal (gee whiz, thanks for nothing. “Some registrants may apply?”).
And here comes the important one:
2. Those with out-of-state offenses must have been removed “in another state,” presumably the state where you offended. At least they inserted a grandfather clause that allows those with convictions before 7/1/24 to continue to apply for removal. What kind of reception you might get in a GA courtroom is anybody’s guess.
Sorry about that.
Most recent visit: April 2024
Georgia’s SOR statute states that registrants may not reside, loiter, or be employed within 1,000 ft. of a child care facility, church, school, or “area where minors congregate.” The term “area where minors congregate” is defined to include “all public & private parks and recreation facilities, playgrounds, skating rinks, neighborhood centers, gymnasiums, school bus stops, public libraries, & public & community swimming pools” §42-1-12(3). That’s a pretty tough set of rules.
Downtown Savannah
However! The good news is that as of August 2024 the Georgia SOR office says that as a visitor during their 14 day grace period you are not subject to residency or presence requirements. Also, according to the state SOR office, national parks and forests are “out of our jurisdiction,” and there are quite a few of those, especially in northern and central Georgia. Since most of my cross-country travel plans involve camping overnight at national park or national forest campgrounds, that’s all good news for me.
NOTE: Georgia is one of about 15 states where there is no procedure for removal from the registry upon returning to your home state. So be extra careful.
In April 2024 my ex-wife but still Best Friend Forever and I were traveling on our way back to Florida from attending a wedding in New Jersey when we decided to stop overnight and spend a little time in Savannah. We entered Georgia from South Carolina on I-95 and checked into a hotel near Savannah Airport. The hotel was in a primarily airport-industrial area, so even then I didn’t worry about Georgia’s residency or presence rules. This was before I called to get the good news from the GA SOR office.
The next morning I continued to not worry about Georgia’s presence or loitering rules. Instead my BFF and I toured downtown Savannah, checked out the waterfront and tourist commercial district, had lunch at a local restaurant and were on our way, arriving home in Florida in time to have dinner with family.
That’s two partial days in Georgia, far fewer than the 14 consecutive days the state allows. That’s also a nice morning touring Savannah with my best friend without being excessively paranoid about state rules.
Previous visits: April & Nov. 2022
In November 2022 I visited the North Georgia mountains together with family, coming from Florida. I did none of the driving on this trip. Instead I was a passenger with my ex-wife while my daughter and grandchildren rode in a separate car. We stayed for five days at a timeshare. It was very nice.
I took my ex to Amicalola State Park and show her Amicalola Falls, which she really liked. She wanted to take the family to supposedly historic Helen which in my opinion is completely ruined by tourism, so I went along with it and pretended I really liked it. I will say we had lunch at a pretty good German restaurant. The next day we went to Dahlonega, which I have always liked a lot better.
On a previous visit in April 2022 I entered Georgia from Tennessee in the morning, enjoying a beautiful mountain drive through Chattahoochee National Forest. I stopped to see De Soto Falls – very nice. Then I continued to Historic Dahlonega, which at that time I hadn’t been to for long time.
After a nice lunch in Dahlonega I continued on to Atlanta, where I visited the World of Coca Cola. That was a mistake. I was expecting an interesting factory tour like one finds at Pabst in Milwaukee, Jim Beam in Tennessee or Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, but no such luck. The World of Coca Cola sucks. It’s all advertising and no education. And it’s right next door to the Georgia Aquarium which I’m sure would’ve been a better bet. Oh well.
Afterward I had an early supper at the Varsity, Atlanta’s culinary must stop. Then it was southeast bound to the Lake Sinclair, the southernmost campground in Oconee National Forest, the southernmost national forest in Georgia. Very nice, secluded and has hot showers. The next morning I made my way southward toward Macon, I-75 and back to Florida.
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