If you’ve been wondering about something in your community, Ask The Times is your place to get answers. The following questions were submitted by readers and answered through the efforts of our news staff.

In traveling North Georgia roads, I see numerous deer road kill. It appears they are left to decay along the roads. Is it possible some agency could retrieve these carcasses and determine their usability as food?
Picking up road kill, or any other maintenance tasks, falls to the entity responsible for that road: the Department of Transportation for state routes and interstates and the city or county for other roads, DOT spokeswoman Teri Pope said.

It is legal in Georgia to take deer or bears once they’ve been hit by a vehicle, following a 2010 bill by then-Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton. Before that, the carcass had to be turned over to the Department of Natural Resources.

However, the safety of using such finds for food is questionable, as it is hard to determine whether that animal was diseased. There is no process in place for inspecting road kill.

When were the state House of Representatives and Senate created?
The General Assembly was created in 1777, according to the Georgia Senate website, and actually before the U.S. Congress.

It must convene on the second Monday of January and meet for no more than 40 legislative days.

In 1959, the Legislative Services Committee was created to study and adopt procedures to operate the General Assembly more efficiently, according to the Senate website.

Also in 1959, the Office of Legislative Counsel was created, which provides an attorney who offers bill drafting services to every member of the legislature.

In 1968, a legislative fiscal officer position was created to oversee salaries and expenses.

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