Filing fees; fees submitted to state treasury

(a) The fee for filing a case with, or having a case transferred or removed to, the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be $3,000.00, to be paid by: (1) The party or parties filing the action in, or seeking transfer to, the Georgia State-wide Business Court under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (a) of Code Section 15-5A-4; or (2) An equal allocation across all parties to an agreement seeking removal of the case to the Georgia State-wide Business Court under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section 15-5A-4. (b) All fees collected by the clerk of the Georgia State-wide Business Court pursuant to this Code section shall be the property of the state, and the same shall be paid into the state treasury. History. — Code 1981, § 15-5A-5, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 1-1/HB 239; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 15/SB 429. The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subsection (b). 15-5A-6. Number of judges and divisions; operational date; qualifications for judge. (a) The Georgia State-wide Business Court shall consist of one judge and one division. (b) The court shall commence operations on January 1, 2020, and may commence accepting cases on August 1, 2020. (c) No individual shall be a judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court unless, at the time of his or her appointment, he or she has: (1) Been a resident of this state and a citizen of the United States for at least seven years; (2) Been admitted to practice law in this state for at least seven years; and (3) At least 15 years of legal experience as an attorney or judge in complex business litigation, which experience shall be presumed by law as being met by virtue of appointment and approval under Code Section 15-5A-7. History. — Code 1981, § 15-5A-6, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 1-1/HB 239. 180 15-5A-7 STATE-WIDE BUSINESS COURT 15-5A-8 15-5A-7. Appointment of judges; initial appointment and term; service area. (a) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to approval by a majority vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a majority vote of the House Committee on Judiciary. The Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Judiciary shall be authorized to meet jointly or separately, while in or out of a legislative session, as called in the discretion of each such chairperson, with notice provided by the chairpersons to such committee members, to consider the approval of such appointment. (b)(1) The initial judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be appointed by July 1, 2019, and approved by December 31, 2019, or within three months of the Governor’s appointment, whichever is later, and the judge shall serve an initial term beginning on August 1, 2020. (2) Beginning on January 1, 2020, such initial judge may perform the administrative duties required for establishing the Georgia State-wide Business Court and, if so, shall receive compensation as a judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court beginning on such date and for such purposes. (3)(A) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall serve for a term of five years and may be reappointed for any number of consecutive terms so long as he or she meets the qualifications of appointment at the time of each appointment and shall be reappointed and reapproved in the same manner as provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section. (B) Vacancies in the office of judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be filled by appointment and approval in the same manner as provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section. (4) The judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall be deemed to serve the geographical area of this state. History. — Code 1981, § 15-5A-7, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 1-1/HB 239. 15-5A-8. Judicial oath and supplemental oath.