§ 19-13-53.Standardized forms; timing of transmission of information and data entry; sheriff’s responsibility

This section is the mechanics of getting a protective order into the Georgia Protective Order Registry quickly. It starts with forms. Georgia courts must use a standardized form or forms for every protective order, promulgated through the Uniform Superior Court Rules. The forms must conform to the Code, must be approved as to form and format by the Georgia Crime Information Center and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority, and must contain at least all the information needed to enter the order into the registry and the National Crime Information Center Protection Order File. The Administrative Office of the Courts distributes them. A judge may still modify the standard form to fit the law and facts of an individual case.

Next come the deadlines. The clerk of the issuing court must electronically send a copy of the order, or any modification, to the registry as fast as possible and no later than the end of the next business day after the order is filed with the clerk. If the electronic system fails, the clerk must notify the Georgia Crime Information Center immediately, and the center authorizes another way to send it. The center then must enter the order within 24 hours of receiving it. Missing data fields can’t hold up entry of the information that is available.

The sheriff’s department validates the national-database entries the superior court clerk’s office makes on its behalf, following the validation steps set by the state and national crime information centers and the national center’s file retention schedule, and the sheriff answers “HIT” confirmation requests — the check an officer runs when a database search turns up an order. Last, and important for victims: entering an order in the registry is not a prerequisite to enforcing it. The section was last amended in 2015.