§ 19-13-55.Confidential nature of information in registry
Chapter 13. Family Violence · Article 4. Protective Order Registry · Last amended 2001 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-13-55
Plain-English Summary
This section protects the information stored in the Georgia Protective Order Registry. Protective orders can carry sensitive personal details, and a victim’s safety can depend on keeping them away from the wrong people.
So any individual, agency or court that obtains information from the registry must keep it, or any part of it, confidential. They may not disseminate or disclose it except as this article authorizes or as other law allows. The duty follows the information: it binds whoever receives it from the registry, not only the Georgia Crime Information Center that keeps the registry under § 19-13-52.
Breaking this rule is a crime. A violation of this Code section is a misdemeanor. The section doesn’t set its own penalty, so the general punishment for misdemeanors applies. The section has not been amended since it was enacted in 2001. Section 19-13-56, which follows, deals with the separate question of officials’ liability for registry delays and for relying on registry information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is information in the Georgia protective order registry confidential?
Yes. Any individual, agency or court that obtains information from the registry must keep it, and any part of it, confidential. They may not disseminate or disclose it except as authorized in the registry article or otherwise by law. Violating that duty is a misdemeanor.
Is it a crime to leak protective order registry information in Georgia?
Yes. Violating this section is a misdemeanor. Anyone who obtains registry information and disseminates or discloses it, or any part of it, without authorization under the registry article or other law commits that offense. The section doesn’t set a separate penalty, so the general misdemeanor punishment applies.
Can a police officer share registry information with someone else?
Only as the registry article or other law authorizes. The confidentiality duty applies to every individual, agency or court that obtains registry information, and it covers parts of the information as well as the whole. An officer who shares it outside that authority risks a misdemeanor charge under this section.
Does this mean my protective order case file is secret?
Not necessarily. This section covers information obtained from the registry. It doesn’t address the court’s own case file, which other law governs. What it does is restrict what people who pull information from the registry — officers, agencies and courts — may do with it once they have it.
Who has to keep registry information confidential?
Any individual, agency or court that obtains it. The duty isn’t limited to the Georgia Crime Information Center, which maintains the registry under § 19-13-52; it binds everyone who receives information from the registry, including the law enforcement officers and courts that have access to it.
Amendment History
Laws 2001, p. 101, § 1.