08 LC 29
3029
House
Bill 922
By:
Representatives Jacobs of the
80th,
Millar of the
79th,
Chambers of the
81st,
Levitas of the
82nd,
Ralston of the
7th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 4 of Chapter 9 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to fraud and related offenses, so as to provide for
additional methods of committing the offense of deceptive business practices; to
prohibit certain violations of a county´s or municipality´s
competitive bidding procedures; to increase penalties for second and subsequent
offenses; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for
other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
4 of Chapter 9 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to fraud and related offenses, is amended by revising Code Section 16-9-50,
relating to deceptive business practices, as follows:
"16-9-50.
(a)
A person commits the offense of using a deceptive business practice when in the
regular course of business
he
such
person knowingly:
(1)
Uses or possesses for use a false weight or measure or any other device for
falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity;
(2)
Sells, offers, or exposes for sale or delivers less than the represented quality
or quantity of any commodity;
or
(3)
Takes or attempts to take more than the represented quantity of any commodity
when as buyer he
or
she furnishes the weight or
measure;
or
(4)
Violates a county´s or municipality´s competitive bidding or contract
approval policy or procedure by:
(A)
Soliciting, authorizing, or awarding a contact within one year after the county
or municipality authorized or awarded one or more other contracts to the same
vendor for the same or similar goods or services, where the value of each
contract is less than a monetary threshold which would trigger a requirement for
competitive bidding, but which contracts together have a value greater than such
competitive bidding threshold; or
(B)
Soliciting, authorizing, or awarding a contract within one year after the county
or municipality authorized or awarded one or more other contracts to the same
vendor for the same or similar goods or services, where the value of each
contract is less than a monetary threshold which would trigger a requirement for
approval by vote of the governing authority of the county or municipality, but
which contracts together have a value greater than such approval
threshold.
(b)
Any person who commits the offense of using a deceptive business practice
shall, upon
the first offense, be guilty of a
misdemeanor,
and, upon the second and each subsequent offense, such person shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated
nature.
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.