Georgia Code
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 37-3-1. Definitions

As used in this chapter, the term:
(.1) “Available outpatient treatment” means outpatient treatment, either public or private, available in the patient’s community, including but not limited to supervision and support of the patient by family, friends, or other responsible persons in that community. Outpatient treatment at state expense shall be available only within the limits of state funds specifically appropriated therefor.
(9.1) “Inpatient” means a person who is mentally ill and:
(9.2) “Inpatient treatment” or “hospitalization” means a program of treatment for mental illness within a hospital facility setting.
(9.3) “Involuntary treatment” means inpatient or outpatient treatment which a patient is required to obtain pursuant to this chapter.
(12.1) “Outpatient” means a person who is mentally ill and:
(12.2) “Outpatient treatment” means a program of treatment for mental illness outside a hospital facility setting which includes, without being limited to, medication and prescription monitoring, individual or group therapy, day or partial programming activities, case management services, and other services to alleviate or treat the patient’s mental illness so as to maintain the patient’s semi-independent functioning and to prevent the patient’s becoming an inpatient.
(14.1) “Psychologist” means a licensed psychologist who meets the criteria of training and experience as a health service provider psychologist as provided in Code Section 31-7-162.
(16.1) “Traumatic brain injury” means a traumatic insult to the brain and its related parts resulting in organic damage thereto which may cause physical, intellectual, emotional, social, or vocational changes in a person. It shall also be recognized that a person having a traumatic brain injury may have organic damage or physical or social disorders, but for the purposes of this chapter, traumatic brain injury shall not be considered mental illness.
History. Ga. L. 1958, p. 697, § 1; Ga. L. 1960, p. 837, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-501, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 723, §§ 1-3; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 37; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1098, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1566, § 3; Ga. L. 1990, p. 45, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1059, § 8; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1902, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 17.1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1324, §§ 1-9, 1-10; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-12/HB 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 286, § 8/SB 244; Ga. L. 2022, p. 26, § 3-2/HB 1013.
The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, rewrote subparagraphs (12.1)(A) through (12.1)(C) which read: “(A) Who is not an inpatient but who, based on the person's treatment history or current mental status, will require outpatient treatment in order to avoid predictably and imminently becoming an inpatient;
“(B) Who because of the person's current mental status, mental history, or nature of the person's mental illness is unable voluntarily to seek or comply with outpatient treatment; and
“(C) Who is in need of involuntary treatment.”
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2009, the paragraph (11) designation, which was inadvertently stricken by the 2009 amendment, was added.
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 18.1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to repeal any provision of Chapter 5 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the ‘Community Services Act for the Mentally Retarded.’ ”
Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 19, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective on July 1, 1994; provided, however, that provisions relating to the establishment of regional and community service board boundaries and the appointments of regional boards and community service boards shall become effective on July 1, 1993, or upon whatever date is stipulated in the Act and provided, further, that the provisions authorizing a county board of health to agree to serve as the lead county board of health for only that county shall become effective upon the approval of this Act by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.” The Act was approved by the Governor on April 27, 1993.
Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, which amends this Code section, provides, in § 19.1, not codified by the General Assembly, that the amendment is repealed on June 30, 1999; however, Ga. L. 1998, p. 870, § 1, struck § 19.1 of Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, which would have repealed the 1993 amendment to this Code section.
Law reviews.
For comment, “1986 Amendments to Georgia’s Mental Health Statutes: The Latest Attempt to Provide a Solution to the Problem of the Chronically Mentally Ill,” see 36 Emory L.J. 1313 (1987).
For note, “The Parity Cure: Solving Unequal Treatment of Mental Illness Health Insurance Through Federal Legislation,” see 44 Ga. L. Rev. 511 (2010).

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