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Georgia bill would centralize county trade-name filings with Superior Court clerks' database
Summary
Rep. Franklin said HB 158 would require county trade-name registrations to be uploaded to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority database so searches need not be made county-by-county; the committee approved the bill after members received the corrected substitute language.
Rep. Matthew Franklin told the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee that HB 158 (LC 442992S) would require county trade-name filings — commonly called “doing business as” registrations — to be submitted to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority so the information is searchable in a single statewide database.
"It's a bill to ... consolidate and make our government more transparent and easier to function," Franklin said, adding the bill would not change the underlying registration process or clerks’ administrative fees. "The clerks still get paid for what they do … it's just one more thing when they put it in there."
The bill grew out of clerk offices' existing workflows, according to Greg Allen, Clerk of Superior Court in Forsyth County. Allen told the committee the authority already maintains a website and that clerks would send trade-name registrations to that central database so a member of the public could search by county or trade name without visiting each office.
Committee members paused early in the hearing when a substitute draft in members’ folders did not match the version offered by the author. After staff circulated the correct substitute (LC 442992S) and members discussed a standard, preprinted form to be used for electronic submissions, Vice Chairman Joe Campbell moved the bill do pass. The committee voiced its assent and the motion passed by voice vote; the meeting record did not provide numerical tallies.
Why it matters: The change would make trade-name filings easier to search statewide and reduce the need for members of the public and businesses to check multiple county records when verifying a trade name.
Committee action: Motion to do pass approved by voice vote; exact tally not specified.
Votes at a glance: HB 158 (LC 442992S) — Motion: move to do pass; Outcome: approved by voice vote; tally not specified.
Speakers quoted in this article come from committee testimony and staff identified in the hearing record.
