05 LC 29
1673
Senate
Resolution 161
By:
Senators Hamrick of the 30th, Tate of the 38th, Kemp of the 46th, Unterman of
the 45th and Harbison of the 15th
A
RESOLUTION
Creating
the Juvenile Code Rewrite Joint Study Committee; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
the safety and welfare of Georgia´s children are of paramount importance to
the members of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS,
in large measure, many issues affecting children in the judicial system are
contained in Chapter 11 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
sometimes referred to as the Juvenile Code; and
WHEREAS,
juvenile court judges, child advocate attorneys, juvenile public defenders and
attorneys who represent children, child welfare practitioners, and state
policymakers have acknowledged that the existing Juvenile Code is confusing,
occasionally inconsistent, and is in need of reorganization and reformation;
and
WHEREAS,
children, attorneys, advocates, and judges working in juvenile court face very
difficult issues in an area that is tremendously specialized; and
WHEREAS,
the safety and welfare of Georgia´s children will be best served by a
comprehensive, research based, best practices legal model that will simplify and
govern juvenile court practice and procedure; and
WHEREAS,
the Juvenile Law Committee of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of
Georgia has undertaken the project of rewriting the Juvenile Code;
and
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that there is
created the Juvenile Code Rewrite Joint Study Committee to be composed
of:
(1)
Three members appointed by the Senate Committee on Assignments, one of whom
shall be designated as the cochairperson;
(2)
Three members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one of
whom shall be designated as the cochairperson; and
(3)
Six members appointed by the Governor who shall include two members of the
Juvenile Law Committee of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of
Georgia; two members who have experience relating to child welfare and
deprivation law; and two members who have experience relating to juvenile
justice.
The
cochairpersons of the committee shall jointly agree upon the date and locations
of all meetings of the committee. The committee may be staffed by the project
reporter employed by the Juvenile Law Committee of the Young Lawyers Division of
the State Bar of Georgia.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall undertake a study of the
conditions, needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto
including the statutory scheme governing juvenile court practice and procedure,
and recommend any action or legislation which the committee deems necessary or
appropriate. The committee may conduct such meetings at such places and at such
times as the cochairpersons may jointly deem necessary or convenient to enable
it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and
accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution. The legislative
members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided for in Code
Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Citizen members shall
receive a daily expense allowance in the amount specified in subsection (b) of
Code Section 45-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as well as the
mileage or transportation allowance authorized for state employees. Members of
the committee who are state officials, other than legislative members, and state
employees shall receive no compensation for their services on the committee, but
they shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the performance of
their duties as members of the committee in the same manner as they are
reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as state officials or employees. The
funds necessary for the reimbursement of the expenses of state officials, other
than legislative members, and state employees shall come from funds appropriated
to or otherwise available to their respective departments. All other funds
necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds
appropriated to the Senate and the House of Representatives. The expenses and
allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member of
the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. In
the event the committee makes a report of its findings and recommendations, with
suggestions for proposed legislation, if any, such report shall be made on or
before December 31, 2005. The committee shall stand abolished on December 31,
2005.