Newton County, GA Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)

Newton County exempts four categories of activity from the notification-and-permit requirements of chapter 12, article IV. Section 12-80 lists them: current news productions by reporters, photographers, or camera crews employed by a newspaper, news service, or broadcast station covering a news event; productions conducted by the county, county municipalities, the county board of education, or other governmental agencies approved by the board of commissioners; productions filmed inside a legally established commercial motion picture, television, or still photography studio; and, at item (4), student filming. Because student filming falls under this exemption, a student production crew shooting in unincorporated Newton County does not need to notify the county film coordinator, submit the application described in section 12-81, pay the permit or rush fees in section 12-82, carry the insurance described in section 12-85, or sign the hold harmless agreement required of commercial productions under section 12-86.

The code does not further define 'student' or 'student filming,' so the exemption is not limited on its face to a particular school, age, or degree program. The exemption applies only to the county's film-permitting article; it does not excuse a student production from other generally applicable rules, such as private property owner consent, traffic laws, park rules under chapter 38, or noise limits under chapter 22 that would otherwise apply to anyone using county property or right-of-way.