Georgia Needs a Link-Friendly State Code Online
I frequently publish articles about Georgia law in this blog, on the Center’s web site and on the Center’s Georgia Supreme Court Blog. Aside from the convenience and instant gratification of web publishing, the ability to link directly to references is the main advantage of web-based articles over traditional print publications.
Writing on Georgia law, however, one faces a particular disadvantage: there is no link-friendly version of the state code available. The only complete copy of the Georgia Code I have been able to locate online is maintained by LexisNexis. I believe that the Georgia Legislature at one time maintained its own copy of our state law, but has since ceded to LexisNexis.
One can access the Georgia Code via LexisNexis free of charge and if one starts with the table of contents page, it is user-friendly and accessible. Here is the problem: say I’m writing about the state’s laws about special masters in civil proceedings and want to refer readers to OCGA 9-7-1. Take a look at the link I would use:
Kind of confusing, right? Imagine trying to help someone navigate to OCGA 9-7-1 over the phone! Worse still, this link won’t take you to OCGA 9-7-1, it takes you to a LexisNexis sign-in screen. You can’t freely access the code provision online. One could start with the LexisNexis table of contents and navigate by title, chaper and section, but that defeats the purpose of creating a hyperlink and decreases the utility of web-based work.
I could copy the chapter covering Auditor and Special Master from LexisNexis and make my own reference page, but that’s not a real solution: my code fragment is no lasting reference, one would still want to check an updated code to verify the law hasn’t changed.
Compare online access to Florida Statutes. It appears that most states have some accessible, link-friendly version of their state codes online. See directory by Cornell LII.
The Georgia Legislature has issues a Request for Proposal for publishing the state code. See web page. Hopefully, that will yield a freely accessible, link-friendly online version of the state code. I think maintaining a freely accessible, link-friendly copy of the laws of Georgia would be a good project for one of Georgia’s law schools; I believe that Cornell Law School has greatly contributed to legal scholarship with its Legal Information Institute and publication of the U.S. Code.
It’s a shameful commentary on the state government, in my opinion, that despite numerous offices for legislative affairs and producing legislation, the state government cannot keep its own updated copy of the state code online. We’re getting ready for a new session of law-making without, apparently, having the ability to maintain a current copy of existing laws online. How does a body decide what new laws are needed without being able to maintain an accessible, user-friendly publication of existing laws?
