§ 9-10-113.When verification sufficient

Georgia law requires plenty of affidavits, petitions, and sworn answers, but it does not require every one of them to be sworn before some particular official. This section sets the default: any affidavit, petition, answer, defense, or other proceeding that must be verified or sworn to under oath is sufficient when sworn before a notary public, magistrate, judge, or any other officer of the state or county where the oath is taken, so long as that officer has authority to administer oaths there.

The section reaches beyond Georgia’s borders too. An oath made outside the state carries the same force and effect as one made before a Georgia officer, which matters for out-of-state witnesses, parties, or corporate officers who cannot conveniently appear before a Georgia notary. When the officer attests to having administered the oath, that attestation counts as prima facie evidence of the officer’s official character and authority — the party relying on the affidavit does not have to independently prove the notary was a notary.

The one exception: this general rule steps aside when another statute expressly requires a particular affidavit to be made before some specific officer within Georgia. In that narrower situation, the specific statute controls instead of this catch-all.