Section 32-4-2. Official map, list, and records; rules and regulations

   (a) (1) The department shall prepare an official map showing all public roads on the state highway system. Changes to the state highway system shall be recorded on this map as soon as is reasonably possible; and such map, as it is periodically revised, shall be filed with the Secretary of State and shall be open for public inspection. As often as reasonably possible but not less than once every five years, the department shall also prepare and distribute to each county a map showing all the public roads on its county road system including extensions into municipalities.

   (2) (A) The department shall prepare an official list of all portions or features of the state highway system, including without limitation public roads, bridges, or interchanges, which have been named by Act or resolution of the General Assembly or by resolution of the State Transportation Board. The department shall update the list to reflect any additions or changes as soon as is reasonably possible; and such list, as periodically revised, shall be open for public inspection. For each such named portion or feature of the state highway system, the list shall specify without limitation the official name; the state highway system route number; the name of each county wherein the named portion or feature is located; a citation to the Act or resolution of the General Assembly or the resolution of the State Transportation Board officially naming such portion or feature; and a brief biographical, historical, or other relevant description of the person, place, event, or thing commemorated by such naming.

      (B) The department may contract with a state historical society to make such list available in electronic format free of charge to Internet users, provided that any web page providing such list pursuant to this subparagraph shall be searchable without limitation by county name.

(b) The department shall keep written records of the mileage on all public roads on the state highway system and on all public roads on each of the county road systems. These written records shall be revised as soon as is reasonably possible after any changes to the above public road systems. They shall indicate whether roads are paved or unpaved and shall contain information as to the condition, status, type, and use of all such public roads and such other information as deemed necessary for sound, long-range planning of public road construction and maintenance. These records shall be made available to each county and to the public.

(c) The department may provide reasonable rules and regulations for keeping accurate and up-to-date, between official measurements, the mileage record called for in this Code section. Each county shall comply with such rules and regulations.

(d) Not more often than every four years, a county may request an official measurement of its county road system under the rules and regulations of the department; and the department shall comply with such a request if properly made. Whenever a mileage measurement is to be made in any county, whether in response to a request or in the regular course of measurement for the records of the department, the county shall furnish a representative to accompany the representatives of the department in its measurement. In case of disagreement between the department representative and the county representative as to their findings, the matter shall be referred to the commissioner, whose decision as to the facts thereof shall be final and conclusive. The distribution of the county grants based on public road mileage of the county road system shall be made on the basis of the latest official mileage record for each county as shown by department records at the end of the preceding fiscal year.

(e) The official record of the state highway system shall consist of an official map, as provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section, and a written record, as provided for in subsection (b) of this Code section, the written record to have priority in case of conflict between the two. Resolutions of the board designating a road as part of the state highway system, as provided for in Code Section 32-4-21, and certifications of abandonment, as provided for in subsection (a) of Code Section 32-7-2, shall serve as the official record until such changes are recorded on the official map and in the written record.

(f) The official record of a county road system shall consist of an official map, as provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section, and a written record, as provided for in subsection (b) of this Code section, the written record to have priority in case of conflict between the two. The minutes of the county containing resolutions designating roads as a part of a county road system, as provided for in Code Section 32-4-40, and certifications of abandonment, as provided for in subsection (b) of Code Section 32-7-2, shall serve as the official record until such changes are recorded on the official map and in the written record.

(g) For purposes of this chapter, state maps and written records shall only be maintained on public roads which are open to public travel.

Orig. Code 1863, § 578; Code 1868, § 642; Code 1873, § 603; Code 1882, § 603; Ga. L. 1890-91, p. 134, § 1; Civil Code 1895, § 516; Civil Code 1910, § 636; Code 1933, § 95-108; Code 1933, § 95A-204, enacted by Ga. L. 1973, p. 947, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1304, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 4, § 32; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 32/SB 46; Ga. L. 2011, p. 583, § 4/HB 137.