Georgia Ordinances (2026)

Georgia law bars counties and cities from banning, impeding, or restricting honeybee hives, so keeping bees is protected statewide under O.C.G.A. § 2-14-41.1. Local governments keep…

Georgia has no statewide leash law but the Responsible Dog Owner Law sets statewide standards for dangerous and vicious dogs, preempting some local classification rules.

Georgia statewide law prohibits possession of most exotic and inherently dangerous wild animals without a special permit, preempting local rules that would allow them.

Georgia lets you feed deer and other wildlife on private land, but DNR Rule 391-4-2-.60(1) makes it unlawful to place bait or any wildlife food on a state Wildlife Management Area.

Georgia regulates vape and alternative nicotine retail sales under Title 16 Chapter 12 Article 8, requiring licensing, age verification, and product compliance for retailers.

Georgia restricts cannabis-related retail sales to state-licensed independent pharmacies and dispensary locations approved by the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, with…

Georgia law prohibits home cultivation of marijuana for any purpose, including by registered low-THC oil patients, and this prohibition preempts any conflicting local ordinance…

Georgia law generally reserves authority over the operation of unmanned aircraft systems to the state, limiting cities and counties to property-based and time-place-manner rules…

Georgia prohibits local governments from setting minimum wages above state or federal levels under O.C.G.A. 34-4-3.1, a Title 34 preemption enacted in 2004 and broadened in 2017.

Georgia preempts local governments from requiring private employers to provide paid leave, sick time, or other employment benefits beyond state and federal law.

Georgia preempts local predictable scheduling and fair workweek ordinances, preventing cities and counties from regulating employer shift practices for private workers.

Georgia's Coastal Marshlands Protection Act and Shore Protection Act require state permits for development affecting marshes, beaches, and dunes, with authority concentrated in the…

The Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act sets minimum land-disturbing-activity standards, certified-personnel requirements, and stream buffers that apply statewide whether or not a…

Georgia delegates Clean Water Act stormwater authority to the Environmental Protection Division, which issues NPDES permits and minimum standards that all municipal separate storm…

Since July 1, 2021, Georgia no longer requires a Forestry Commission permit or notification to burn hand-piled natural vegetation where it was cut, though statewide safety rules, local…

Georgia legalized consumer fireworks statewide in 2015 and preempts most local bans, though cities retain limited authority over time-of-day restrictions and noise ordinances.

Georgia regulates propane storage statewide through the Safety Fire Commissioner under the Liquefied Petroleum Safety Act, adopting NFPA 58 standards for residential and commercial…

The Georgia Forestry Commission has statewide wildfire suppression authority and may declare burn bans, restrict outdoor activities, and recover suppression costs from negligent…

Georgia is a permitless concealed carry state under SB 319 (2022), allowing lawful weapons carriers to carry concealed handguns statewide subject to statutory location restrictions.

Georgia broadly preempts local firearms regulation under O.C.G.A. 16-11-173, reserving authority to the General Assembly while permitting limited local rules at government buildings…

Georgia permits lawful weapons carriers to openly carry handguns in most public places, with statewide preemption limiting local restrictions on open carry.

Georgia permits any lawful weapons carrier or eligible person to carry a handgun in a private vehicle without a permit under O.C.G.A. 16-11-126.

Georgia requires statewide mobile food service permits issued by county health departments under uniform Department of Public Health rules.

Georgia permits charitable gambling only through two licensed programs: nonprofit raffles licensed by the county sheriff under O.C.G.A. § 16-12-22.1, and nonprofit bingo licensed by…

If a community opts into the Georgia Property Owners' Association Act (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-220 et seq.), unpaid assessments become a lien under § 44-3-232 that the association may…

A Georgia property owners' association must hold a members' meeting at least once a year and give every lot owner 21 days' notice of an annual or regularly scheduled meeting, or seven…

Georgia gives homeowners few statutory protections against HOA covenants. There is NO Georgia statute barring an HOA from prohibiting solar panels: a 2022 bill (HB 483) to do so died…

A Georgia property owners' association may fine a lot owner only if its recorded instrument gives it that power, and since July 1, 2024 a fine can never affect voting rights. The…

A Georgia property owners' association whose neighborhood has been submitted to Article 6 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 may record a lien for unpaid assessments and foreclose it in court…

A Georgia property owners' association can adopt a leasing restriction, but only by a two-thirds vote of the association's voting power, and O.C.G.A. Section 44-3-226(a)(2)(B) protects…

Since July 1, 2025 a Georgia cottage food operator needs no state license and pays no state fee. House Bill 398 added Article 19 to Chapter 2 of Title 26, and under O.C.G.A. § 26-2-472…

Georgia law requires registration or licensure of family day care homes through the Department of Early Care and Learning and limits how strictly local zoning can ban these uses in…

Georgia has no microenterprise home kitchen permit and no exemption that lets a private house serve cooked meals. The Department of Public Health food service rules make it unlawful to…

Georgia allows roadblocks, and for the Georgia State Patrol the written rules sit in the Department of Public Safety Policy Manual at policy 17.16, last revised on October 6, 2025. A…

Georgia has never enacted a statute that expressly gives you the right to film a police officer. What it has is O.C.G.A. 16-11-62, the eavesdropping and surveillance offense, and every…

Georgia's duty to identify is written into the driver licensing code rather than the criminal code. Under O.C.G.A. 40-5-29 every licensee must have the licence in immediate possession…

Georgia has no statute obliging an officer to warn you that you may refuse a vehicle search. What binds the Georgia State Patrol is the Department of Public Safety policy manual at…

Georgia's Water Stewardship Act sets a uniform statewide outdoor watering schedule, allowing daily landscape irrigation between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. without local override.

Georgia does not have one cart law, it has three vehicle classes with different ceilings. A personal transportation vehicle, the class Georgia created for neighbourhood carts, may only…

Aircraft noise in Georgia is governed by federal FAA regulations, not state or local ordinances. Georgia airport zoning law allows compatible land use planning around airports but…

Georgia caps what private-property tow companies can charge under DPS Rule 570-38-7-.13 and Statewide Maximum Rate Tariff No. 5. Removal fees top out at $228 for vehicles under 10,000…

Georgia eviction (a 'dispossessory' action) starts with a demand for possession under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50; for nonpayment, 2024's Safe at Home Act adds a written notice giving 3…

Since July 1, 2024, the Safe at Home Act (HB 404) added an express duty to O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13 that landlords keep rental premises fit for human habitation. Georgia still has no…

For a tenancy at will, O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 requires 60 days' notice from the landlord or 30 days' from the tenant to terminate. Fixed-term leases end on their stated date under their own…

Georgia has no statewide rent control and no limit on how much a landlord may raise rent. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19, no county or municipality may enact or enforce any ordinance that…

Since the 2024 Safe at Home Act (HB 404), Georgia caps a residential security deposit at two months' rent under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1. The landlord must return the deposit, with an…

Adverse possession in Georgia requires 20 years of possession under O.C.G.A. § 44-5-163, or 7 years under written 'color of title' under § 44-5-164. Mere squatters are trespassers, and…

Georgia's Right to Farm Act in O.C.G.A. 41-1-7 protects established agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits brought by neighbors and changing land uses.

Georgia law authorizes a statewide hotel-motel excise tax that applies to short-term rentals under 30 days, with collection obligations imposed on hosts and marketplace facilitators.

Georgia state law restricts placement of political and outdoor advertising signs on state highway rights-of-way and regulates them under the Outdoor Advertising Control Act, while…

Georgia requires charitable organizations and paid solicitors to register annually with the Secretary of State before soliciting donations, applying uniformly across all municipalities.

Every outdoor public pool and spa in Georgia must be enclosed by a barrier at least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching gates, and must keep lifesaving equipment on hand…

Georgia prohibits the sale of tobacco, vapor, and alternative nicotine products to anyone under 21, aligning state law with the federal Tobacco 21 standard.

Georgia prohibits disposing of yard trimmings in municipal solid waste landfills. Grass, leaves, and limbs may only go to construction-and-demolition landfills, inert-waste landfills…

Georgia counts extra lamps rather than describing them. O.C.G.A. section 40-8-29 allows a vehicle not more than one spotlight, not more than two foglights mounted 12 to 30 inches high…

Georgia is one of the few states whose obstruction statute names the mount and permits it. Since July 1, 2021, O.C.G.A. section 40-8-73(a) lets a driver run a mount for a wireless…

Georgia permits a license plate cover only where the covering material is colorless and transparent, and the same Code section separately forbids attaching any apparatus to the rear of…

No section of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated mentions radar detectors. A full-text search of the Code for the phrase returns zero documents, and searches for jamming and jammer…

Georgia does not run a winter tire calendar. The state's traction requirement lives in O.C.G.A. § 32-6-5 and it switches on only when the Department of Transportation closes or limits…

Georgia tightened its tint law on July 1, 2026. The front side and door windows must now pass at least 28 percent of light, plus or minus 3 percent, down from 32 percent, and for the…