Weird Georgia Laws Still on the Books
Weird Georgia Laws Still on the Books
Collection - Laws
The Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, the same state where a sheriff is legally required to milk an impounded cow twice a day.
Quick Answer
Weird Georgia Laws Still on the Books
-
1
Four Georgia weird-law claims check out: Gainesville's fried chicken ordinance, a llama liability statute, a sheriff's cow-milking duty, and an Athens slingshot ban.
-
2
The fried chicken law was a 1961 publicity stunt that's still technically enforceable, and it was only ever used once, in 2009.
-
3
A giraffe tied to a utility pole and a donkey sleeping in a bathtub are myths recycled from other states, with no matching Georgia statute.
Unusual Laws in Georgia That Are Real
A city ordinance about eating fried chicken and a state law naming llamas by species anchor the Unusual Laws in Georgia that check out against the actual code. Each one is still technically enforceable today.
Gainesville's Fried Chicken Ordinance
- Law
- Gainesville, Georgia passed a 1961 ordinance requiring people to eat fried chicken with their fingers, not a knife and fork.
- Meaning
- Using utensils on fried chicken within city limits technically breaks the law, though it has been enforced exactly once in over 60 years.
- Reason
- The city council wrote it purely as a publicity stunt to reinforce Gainesville's identity as the self-declared poultry capital of the world. In 2009, police staged a tongue-in-cheek "arrest" of a 91-year-old visitor caught using a fork, and the mayor pardoned her the same day.
Georgia's Llama Liability Law
- Law
- Georgia shields llama activity sponsors and llama professionals from lawsuits over injuries caused by the ordinary, unpredictable behavior of a llama.
- Meaning
- Get hurt because a llama spooked, kicked, or reacted unpredictably during a sanctioned activity, and the operator generally can't be sued for it.
- Reason
- Lawmakers modeled the rule on Georgia's older equine liability law, extending the same protection to llama-related businesses and hobby farms once llama ownership became common enough to need its own legal category.
A Sheriff Must Milk an Impounded Cow
- Law
- Georgia law requires whoever holds impounded livestock to feed and water the animals at least twice a day, and specifically to milk any impounded milk cow or milk goat twice a day.
- Meaning
- If a sheriff's office impounds a dairy animal during a legal dispute, someone on staff has to actually milk it on schedule, not just feed it.
- Reason
- The rule exists to prevent animal suffering while livestock sits in custody, since an unmilked dairy animal can develop painful, serious health problems within a single day.
Athens Bans the 'Alabama Slingshot' Downtown
- Law
- Athens-Clarke County ordinance bans using a slingshot, including what the code specifically calls an "Alabama slingshot," anywhere in the downtown area.
- Meaning
- Carrying or firing any slingshot-type device downtown violates the ordinance regardless of what's loaded into it.
- Reason
- The rule sits among Athens's general public-safety offenses aimed at projectile weapons in a dense pedestrian downtown, grouping slingshots with other devices capable of hurting a passerby.
Weird Laws in Georgia We Couldn't Verify
Not all Real Georgia Laws You Won't Believe hold up once you look for the actual ordinance. A piggyback-ride ban in Atlanta and a banned phrase in Marietta are two of the strangest, and neither has a citation attached anywhere.
Giving someone a piggyback ride is illegal in Atlanta
- Claim
- Atlanta bans one man from giving another man a piggyback ride.
- Why We Couldn't Verify It
- No ordinance number, date, or Atlanta municipal code section matches this description. The claim shows up across weird-law compilations with nearly identical wording and no original source ever cited.
Saying 'Oh Boy' in a women's restroom is banned in Marietta
- Claim
- Marietta has an ordinance banning the phrase "Oh Boy" inside women's public restrooms.
- Why We Couldn't Verify It
- No version of Marietta's city code contains this language, and no explanation for how or why such a rule would exist has ever surfaced. It appears only in internet listicles with no ordinance number or historical record behind it.
Strange Georgia Laws That Are Myths
A giraffe tied to a utility pole is the most repeated Strange Georgia Laws myth of all, and it collapses the same way two other widely shared claims do, under a basic records check.
It's illegal to tie a giraffe to a utility pole in Georgia
- Myth
- Georgia law specifically bans tying a giraffe to a telephone pole or utility pole.
- Reality
- No such statute exists in Georgia's modern code, and no giraffe-specific ordinance has ever been documented in any Georgia city. The claim appears on generic "weird law" lists for multiple states with the same wording, which is the clearest sign it was never a real rule anywhere.
It's illegal to keep a donkey sleeping in a bathtub in Georgia
- Myth
- A Georgia town makes it unlawful for a donkey to sleep in a bathtub.
- Reality
- This is a real ordinance, just not a Georgia one. Kingman, Arizona passed it after a 1924 flood swept a merchant's donkey downstream inside an abandoned bathtub. Generic weird-law lists have recycled the Arizona story and reattached it to Georgia and other states with no matching local ordinance anywhere.
Picnicking in a Georgia graveyard is illegal
- Myth
- Having a picnic in a cemetery, such as Magnolia Cemetery in Columbus, breaks Georgia law.
- Reality
- Columbus does ban loud noise and disorderly conduct in its cemeteries, and a separate Georgia statute bans disruptive conduct within 500 feet of a funeral or memorial service. Neither one mentions picnicking, and a quiet picnic breaks neither rule.
Why Georgia's 159 Counties Each Guard Their Own Odd Ordinances
Georgia has 159 counties, second only to Texas, plus hundreds of separate city governments layered on top of them. A 1961 publicity ordinance in Gainesville or a slingshot ban in Athens never gets reviewed alongside any other town's code, because no statewide body is responsible for auditing all of them at once, and a small city council rarely has a reason to revisit a rule nobody is currently breaking.
Key Facts
Quick Answers
Is it really illegal to eat fried chicken with a fork in Gainesville?
Is Georgia's llama liability law real?
Does a Georgia sheriff really have to milk a cow?
Is the giraffe utility-pole law in Georgia real?
What is the weirdest real law still on the books in Georgia?
Is it illegal to picnic in a cemetery in Georgia?
Sources
- Georgia Code — Immunity From Liability for Equine, Livestock, or Llama Activities, § 4-12-3
- Georgia Code — Care of Impounded Animals, § 4-3-9
- Athens-Clarke County Code of Ordinances — Offenses, § 3-5-16
- Stewart Melvin & Frost — Gainesville's Chicken Ordinance
You Might Also Like
Gas Stations by State
Texas has the most gas stations of any state at 10,670, well ahead of California's 8,116. Alaska has the fewest of any state, with 200.
Chase Bank Locations by State
California has the most Chase Bank locations of any state at 900, about 17% of the US total. Hawaii and Alaska have none.
Dunkin' Donuts Locations by State
New York has the most Dunkin' Donuts locations at 1,453, followed by Massachusetts at 1,030. Seven states have none.
McDonald's Locations by State
Texas has the most McDonald's locations at 1,269, narrowly ahead of California's 1,234. North Dakota has the fewest of any state, with 24.
Wells Fargo Banks by State
California has the most Wells Fargo branches of any state at 823, nearly double Florida's second-place total of 498. Fourteen states have none.
Rodeo
The Wyoming state sport is rodeo, adopted in 2003. Cheyenne Frontier Days has run since 1897.
Rodeo
The Texas state sport is rodeo, adopted in 1997. Texas was the first state to name an official state sport.
Rodeo
The South Dakota state sport is rodeo, adopted in 2003. Its sponsor, Larry Rhoden, later became the state's governor.