Rule II - Central OrganizationA. There is hereby created the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution. 1. The Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution will consist of the current Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court or the Chief Justice's designee, a judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals, a designee of the President of the State Bar of Georgia, three superior court judges, and three judges to be drawn from the other four classes of trial courts in Georgia. The remaining members of the Commission will be one member from the Georgia General Assembly, five members of the State Bar of Georgia, a trainer with an approved training program, a director of an approved court program, and two non-lawyer public members. All members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court. The chair of the Commission and a chair-elect of the Commission shall be designated by the Georgia Supreme Court.2. The Commission is charged with the following duties and responsibilities: a. To administer a statewide comprehensive ADR program;b. To oversee the development and ensure the quality of all court programs; c. To approve court programs;d. To develop guidelines for court programs;e. To develop criteria for training and qualifications of neutrals;f. To establish standards of conduct for neutrals;g. To establish and register with the Georgia Secretary of State a nonprofit organization, The Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution, Inc. This corporation shall qualify at all times as a tax exempt organization under sections 501(a) and 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This corporation shall be governed by a board of directors made up of at least three and no more than five directors appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court in cooperation with the President of the State Bar of Georgia from members of the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution. This nonprofit organization shall be established for the sole purpose of receiving and disbursing money from private grants and donations as a tax-exempt organization.3. The first Commission will be appointed to serve terms as follows: the first term for three members will be one year, the first term for three members will be two years, the first term for four members will be three years, the first term for three members will be four years, the first term for three members will be five years. Thereafter, the term for Commission members will be five years. A Commission member shall not succeed himself or herself, except: - Commission members originally appointed to a term of two years or less would be eligible for reappointment to one additional five-year term; and
- A Commission member appointed as Chair of the Commission during his or her term of service may serve the remainder of that original term and may continue to serve all or part of an additional five-year term as Chair. If the Chair's service concludes prior to the end of his or her original five-year term, the member may serve the remainder of that original term after serving as Chair.
If the status of a Commission member chosen to represent a particular category changes during his or her term, the member may continue to serve out his or her term. All appointments are subject to continuing approval by the Georgia Supreme Court.
4. Members of the Commission shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be entitled to reimbursement for expenses and mileage for travel in connection with Commission business.5. The Commission has jurisdiction: a. To receive, investigate, and hear complaints about or arising out of approved court programs;b. To receive, investigate, and hear complaints about approved training programs or any person responsible for conducting, administering, or promoting such training programs;c. To receive, investigate, and hear complaints about neutrals registered with the Commission; andd. To receive, investigate, and hear complaints about or arising out of ADR conducted by a registered neutral in any ADR setting. B. There is hereby created the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution under the Georgia Supreme Court. 1. The Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution will be administered by a director who will serve at the pleasure of the Commission and be directly accountable to the Commission. The director's salary will be paid from the Office budget.2. The Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution will implement the policies of the Commission. The responsibilities of the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution will include, but will not be limited to, the following: a. To serve as a resource for ADR education and research;b. To provide technical assistance to new and existing court programs;c. To develop the capability of providing training to neutrals in courts throughout the state;d. To implement the Commission's policies regarding qualification of neutrals and quality of programs;e. To register neutrals and remove neutrals from the registry if necessary;f. To collect statistics from court programs in order to monitor the effectiveness of various programs throughout the state.Amended effective January 3, 2019; amended effective April 3, 2020.