Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

(.1) “Administrative Office of the Courts” means the entity created pursuant to Code Section 15-5-22.

(1) “Claimant agency” means and includes, in the order of priority set forth below:

(A) The Department of Human Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities with respect to collection of debts under Article 1 of Chapter 11 of Title 19, Code Section 49-4-15, and Chapter 9 of Title 37;

(B) The Georgia Student Finance Authority with respect to the collection of debts arising under Part 3 of Article 7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20;

(C) The Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation with respect to the collection of debts arising under Part 2 of Article 7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20;

(D) The Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce with respect to the collection of debts arising under Part 6 of Article 7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20;

(E) The Department of Labor with respect to the collection of debts arising under Code Sections 34-8-254 and 34-8-255 and Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 34, with the exception of Code Sections 34-8-158 through 34-8-161; provided, however, that the Department of Labor establishes that the debtor has been afforded required due process rights by such Department of Labor with respect to the debt and all reasonable collection efforts have been exhausted;

(F) The Department of Community Supervision with respect to probation fees arising under Code Section 42-8-34 and restitution or reparation ordered by a court as a part of the sentence imposed on a person convicted of a crime who is in the legal custody of the Department of Corrections or the Department of Community Supervision;

(G) The Department of Juvenile Justice with respect to restitution imposed on a juvenile for a delinquent act which would constitute a crime if committed by an adult;

(H) The Georgia Lottery Corporation with respect to proceeds arising under Code Section 50-27-21; and

(I) The State Road and Tollway Authority with respect to collection of amounts determined by the Office of State Administrative Hearings as due and payable for violations of subsection (c) of Code Section 32-10-64.

(2) “Court” means all trial courts in this state, including but not limited to the superior, state, juvenile, magistrate, probate, and municipal courts, whether called mayor’s courts, recorder’s courts, police courts, civil courts, or traffic courts, and miscellaneous and special courts.

(3) “Debt” means:

(A) Any liquidated sum due and owing any claimant agency, which sum has accrued through contract, subrogation, tort, or operation of law regardless of whether there is an outstanding judgment for the sum, any sum which is due and owing any person and is enforceable by the Department of Human Services pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 19-11-8, or any sum of restitution or reparation due pursuant to a sentence imposed on a person convicted of a crime and sentenced to restitution or reparation and probation; or

(B) Any liquidated sum that constitutes any and all court costs, surcharges, and fines for which there is an outstanding court judgment.

(4) “Debtor” means any individual owing money to or having a delinquent account with any claimant agency or court, which obligation has not been adjudicated as satisfied by court order, set aside by court order, or discharged in bankruptcy.

(5) “Refund” means the Georgia income tax refund which the department determines to be due any individual taxpayer. History. Code 1933, § 91A-4102, enacted by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1555, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 785, § 10; Ga. L. 1986, p. 825, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 937, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 139, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 136, § 48; Ga. L. 2004, p. 148, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 88, § 7/HB 172; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-21/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 459, § 5/HB 509; Ga. L. 2014, p. 56, § 1/HB 1000; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-99/HB 310; Ga. L. 2015, p. 909, § 1/HB 275; Ga. L. 2018, p. 152, § 2/HB 150; Ga. L. 2019, p. 224, § 2/SB 207; Ga. L. 2022, p. 352, § 48/HB 1428. The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted “Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce” for “Georgia Board for Physician Workforce” in subparagraph (1)(D). The 2022 amendment, effective May 2, 2022, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “means the entity” for “means entity” in paragraph (.1). Code Commission notes. Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2015, “and” was deleted at the end of subparagraph (1)(F). Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2005, p. 88, § 1/HB 172, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Crime Victims Restitution Act of 2005.’ ” Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment by this Act shall apply to sentences entered on or after July 1, 2015. Law reviews. For annual survey of state and local taxation, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 337 (1986). For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015).