§ 19-11-78.Application of Code Section 19-11-53

This section belongs to Article 2, Georgia’s version of the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA). Under § 19-11-40.1, no new petition may be filed and no new proceeding may begin under Article 2 on or after January 1, 1998; the article applies only to proceedings pending before that date. Interstate support cases begun since then fall under Article 3, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, which starts at § 19-11-100.

This one-line section extends an existing rule into the registration process. Section 19-11-53 shall apply equally when Georgia is acting either as a rendering state — the state that issued the support order — or as a registering state, where an order from elsewhere is registered.

Section 19-11-53 deals with the district attorney’s role in URESA cases. It authorizes the district attorney of each superior court to represent the petitioner in a proceeding under the article; otherwise, at the district attorney’s option, the action proceeds as provided in Article 1 of the chapter. The district attorney may require an application, with fees charged under § 19-11-8. For each petition handled, the county receives $50.00, but only after an order granting or denying support has been entered. And the district attorney represents the petitioner only to the extent the petitioner’s interests don’t conflict with the department’s.

Section 19-11-80 ties into the fee rule. It treats the registration of a foreign support order, an order denying registration, or an order in an enforcement action on a registered order as an order granting or denying support, so the county becomes entitled to the $50.00 fee under § 19-11-53.