Section 43-1-15. Itinerant entertainers

   (a) All carnivals, road shows, and tent shows and all other itinerant entertainment not presented within any regularly licensed theater, auditorium, or other building permitted to be used for the offering of entertainment for value shall, before opening to the public or offering any amusement, entertainment, or other service to the public for value within this state:

   (1) Designate a resident of this state as agent and lawful attorney in fact upon whom may be served all summons or other lawful processes in any action or proceeding against such carnival, circus, road show, tent show, or other itinerant show or itinerant entertainment for any action arising as a result of its appearance in this state. The name and address of such resident agent shall be filed with the judge of the probate court of each county in which such carnival, circus, or show is to be held. If no resident agent has been designated, the Secretary of State shall become such agent with all the foregoing authority, and service of such process shall be made by serving a copy of the petition with process attached thereto on the Secretary of State or an employee in his office designated by the Secretary of State as an agent to receive service in his name, or his successor in office, along with a copy of the affidavit to be submitted to the court pursuant to this Code section, and such service shall be sufficient service upon any such carnival, circus, or show, provided that notice of such service and a copy of the petition and process are forthwith sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery by the plaintiff or his agent to the defendant, if its address is known, and that the defendant's return receipt and the plaintiff's affidavit of compliance herewith are appended to the summons or other process and are filed with said summons, petition, and other papers in the case in the court in which the action is pending. The Secretary of State shall charge and collect a fee as set out in Code Section 45-13-26 for service of process on him under this Code section;

   (2) Secure an insurance policy or a bond, affording coverage to such carnival, circus, or show for the extent of its stay within this state, which insurance policy or bond shall be subject to any personal injury or death or property damages to the following limits:

      (A) An indemnity bond subject to a limit of $100,000.00; or

      (B) An insurance policy or public liability bond subject to a limit of $50,000.00 for personal injury or death or property damage sustained by any one person and subject to a limit of $100,000.00 for personal injuries or death or property damages sustained by two or more persons as a result of any one accident or event; and

   (3) File a copy of such insurance policy or bond with the judge of the probate court in the county where the carnival, circus, or show is to be held or with both the judge of the probate court and the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to issue, upon the request of any carnival, circus, or show filing a copy of such insurance policy or bond in his office, a certificate of filing, stating the coverage afforded by the policy or bond and the effective dates, which certificate may be filed with the judge of the probate court of the county where the carnival, circus, or show is to be held in lieu of a copy of the policy or bond. The Secretary of State is authorized to prescribe and require such terms and conditions in such policies as he may deem necessary or advisable to protect the interests of the public in carrying out the purposes of this Code section, and he is further authorized to prescribe and require use of a standard form of bond and policy for use under this Code section.

(b) Any owner, manager, employee, or other person, excluding landowners on whose land a carnival, circus, road show, or itinerant show is operated, who shall cause or grant permission, either actual or constructive, to any carnival, circus, road show, tent show, or other itinerant show or itinerant entertainment or any part thereof to operate in violation of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Ga. L. 1957, p. 406, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1959, p. 106, § 1; Ga. L. 1959, p. 160, § 1; Ga. L. 1965, p. 235, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1474, § 3; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 43; Ga. L. 1989, p. 364, § 3; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 43; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3.