The Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) is the official compilation of Georgia law. As an annotated code, the O.C.G.A. is an excellent resource for important judicial decisions and law reviews. Laws can also be found in the unofficial West’s Code of Georgia Annotated. The O.C.G.A (Lexis) and West’s Code of Georgia Annotated are available in print and located at MacMillan Law Library in the King and Spalding Room, 3rd floor.
Online access is available through Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Free online access is available through:
Georgia's laws governing adoption include, but are not limited to the following O.C.G.A. titles:
Georgia Legislation
To review current or past Georgia legislation, bill tracking, and house and senate votes, visit the Georgia General Assembly online. Georgia Laws, the compilation of Georgia’s session laws (the Acts & Resolutions of the Georgia General Assembly), is a multi-volume set and is available in print at MacMillan Law Library in the King and Spalding Room, 3rd floor.
Georgia’s session laws are also available online through
50-State Surveys, Statutes, and Regulations
Lexis Advance: Family Law - Adoption: Located under the Family Law tab is the Lexis compiled state-by-state summary of adoption laws.
Westlaw Next Family Law - Adoption: Located under the Family Law General header is the Westlaw compiled state-by-state summary of adoption laws. A Full analysis (PDF) is also available.
HeinOnline National Survey of State Laws - Adoption: Located in the National Survey of State Laws database on HeinOnline is a compiled state survey of adoption laws.
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) - A source of news and analysis of state legislators.
Online access to state laws is available through Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Free online access is available through:
United States Code
While most laws governing adoptions are state-specific, additional federal statutes may also address domestic, international, and other adoption-related legal issues. The United States Code, United States Code Annotated and United States Code Service, in print, are arranged by subject and located on the 3rd floor of MacMillan Law Library.
Online access is also available through Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Free online access to the United States Code is available via govinfo, Cornell LII, and theU.S. House - Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
Federal Legislation
For bill tracking, congressional hearings, committee reports, and other legislative proceedings and documents, take a look at the following sources:
govinfo: The Government Printing Office’s digital library which provides public access to government information submitted by Congress and federal agencies. It is a great free resource for searching legislative history, presidential documents, the United States Code, the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations.
ProQuest Congressional: Emory-subscription access available to Emory students, faculty and staff. PQ Congressional provides full-text federal congressional documents, including House and Senate reports, legislative histories, hearings and other congressional documents.
Congress.gov: provides free access to legislative history, bill tracking, treaties, and other congressional documents.
Georgia Cases
Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases are reported in the official Georgia Reports and Georgia Appeals Reports, respectively. Georgia appellate court decisions can also be found in West’s Georgia Cases and the South Eastern Reporter. Print versions of the aforementioned reporters, except the South Eastern Reporter, are located at MacMillan Law Library in the King and Spalding Room, 3rd floor. The South Eastern Reporter is located on the 3rd floor, core 2.
Online access is available through Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Free online access is also available through:
Federal Cases
U.S. Supreme Court cases are published in the official U.S. Reports and the Supreme Court Reporter. Georgia is located in the 11th Circuit and cases arising from federal law can be found in print federal reporters, along with other appellate court opinions published in the Federal Reporter and selected district court decisions published in the Federal Supplement.
U.S. Supreme Court and federal reporters are located on the 3rd floor of MacMillan Law Library. Court opinions are available online at HeinOnline (U.S. Reports collection), Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law.
Free online access to Supreme and appellate court decisions is also available, and includes the following:
Georgia Administrative Law
The Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia is the compilation of state agencies’ rules and regulations, including those related to juvenile justice. Georgia's rules may be accessed in print or online. While the print version does not have an index, online versions are searchable by the chapter or rule number, popular name or by agency. The official looseleaf print version is located in the King and Spalding Room, 3rd floor of the MacMillan Law Library.
Free access is available to the unofficial online version from the Secretary of State’s website. The rules and regulations are also accessible via Lexis, Westlaw andBloombergLaw.
Federal Administrative Law
The Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) are located in print on the 3rd floor of MacMillan Law Library. Both are also accessible online via govinfo, HeinOnline, Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law.
