Section 50-12-131. Membership; terms; qualifications; officers; quorum; powers and duties

   (a) There is created the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust in the executive branch of state government. The commission shall be assigned to the Office of the Secretary of State for administrative purposes only.

(b) The commission shall be composed of the following members:

   (1) Ex officio members as follows:

      (A) The State School Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee;

      (B) The chancellor of the University System of Georgia or the chancellor's designee;

      (C) The executive director of the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission or the executive director's designee; and

      (D) The commissioner of veterans service or the commissioner's designee; and

   (2) Public members as follows:

      (A) Five public members appointed by the Governor;

      (B) Five public members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

      (C) Five public members appointed by the President of the Senate.

(c) The public members of the commission shall be residents of this state and shall be appointed with due regard for broad geographic representation. Such public members should include but not be limited to:

   (1) Individuals who have served prominently as spokespersons for or as leaders of organizations or corporations which serve members of religious, ethnic, national heritage, or social groups which were subjected to genocide, torture, wrongful deprivation of liberty or property, officially imposed or sanctioned violence, and other forms of human rights violations and persecution at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during the Nazi era;

   (2) Individuals who are experienced in the field of Holocaust education;

   (3) Individuals who represent liberators of victims of the Holocaust; or

   (4) Lay persons who have an interest in Holocaust education.

(d) Public members of the commission shall be appointed for terms of five years each and until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. Public members shall be eligible for reappointment. The office of any member of the commission who fails to attend more than two consecutive meetings of the commission without an excuse approved by a resolution of the commission shall become vacant. All vacancies shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointment, and the person so appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(e) The commission shall have a chairperson who shall be appointed by the Governor for a term of five years and until his or her successor is appointed and qualified.

(f) Seven members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the commission. Public members shall have the right to vote on any matter before the commission, but ex officio members and their designees shall not have the right to vote.

(g) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint a member of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate shall appoint a member of the Senate to serve as advisers to the commission.

Code 1981, § 50-12-131, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 880, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 415, § 50; Ga. L. 2006, p. 72, § 50/SB 465; Ga. L. 2007, p. 47, § 50/SB 103.