Section 19-13-53. Standardized forms; timing of transmission of information and data entry; responsibility of sheriff's office

   (a) The courts of this state shall use a standardized form or forms for the issuance of any protective order. The form or forms shall be promulgated by the Uniform Superior Court Rules. The standardized form or forms for protective orders shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Code, shall be subject to the approval of the Georgia Crime Information Center and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority as to form and format, and shall contain, at a minimum, all information required for entry of protective orders into the registry and the National Crime Information Center Protection Order File. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall distribute the forms. A court may modify the standardized form to comply with the court's application of the law and facts to an individual case. The form or forms shall contain, at a minimum, all information that is required for entry of protective orders into the registry and the National Crime Information Center Protection Order file.

(b) The clerk of the issuing court shall electronically transmit a copy of the protective order or modification thereof to the registry as expeditiously as possible but no later than by the end of the next business day after the order is filed with the clerk of court. In the event of electronic failure, the clerk of court shall immediately notify the Georgia Crime Information Center which shall authorize an alternative method of transmitting the protective order or modification thereof to the registry.

(c) The Georgia Crime Information Center shall ensure that any protective order or modification thereof is entered in the registry within 24 hours of receipt of the protective order or modification from the clerk of court. The inability to enter information for all data fields in the registry shall not delay the entry of available information.

(d) The sheriff's department shall be responsible for the validation of all National Crime Information Center protective order entries made on its behalf by the superior court clerk's office in accordance with the validation steps established by the Georgia Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center. All registry entries shall be validated in accordance with the file retention schedule established by the National Crime Information Center. The sheriff shall respond to and confirm "HIT" confirmation requests based upon the records maintained in the sheriff's office.

(e) The entry of a protective order in the registry shall not be a prerequisite for enforcement of a valid protective order.

Code 1981, § 19-13-53, enacted by Ga. L. 2001, p. 101, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 321, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 631, § 19.