Any physician, psychologist, peace officer, attorney, or health official, or any hospital official, agent, or other person employed by a private hospital or at a facility operated by the state, by a political subdivision of the state, or by a hospital authority created pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 7 of Title 31, who acts in good faith in compliance with the transport, admission, and discharge provisions of this chapter shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for his actions in connection with the transport of a patient to a physician or facility, the admission of a patient to a facility, or the discharge of a patient from a facility. The immunity from civil liability provided in this Code section in connection with the transport of a patient to a physician or a facility shall apply only to injury or damages incurred by such patient or his or her personal representative.
History. Code 1933, § 88-402.23, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 1856, § 1; Ga. L. 1981, p. 996, § 1; Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 4/SB 403.
The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, substituted “transport, admission, and discharge” for “admission and discharge”, substituted “the transport of a patient to a physician or facility, the admission of a patient to a facility, or the discharge” for “the admission of a patient to a facility or the discharge”, and added the second sentence.
Cross references.
Liability of law enforcement officers for actions taken at scene of emergency, § 35-1-7 .
Employment and training of peace officers, T. 35, C. 8.
Physicians generally, T. 43, C. 34.
Psychologists generally, T. 43, C. 39.
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 1/SB 403, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Georgia Behavioral Health and Peace Officer Co-Responder Act.’”
Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 2/SB 403, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds that:
“(1) Demands on peace officers include responding to emergencies involving individuals with a mental or emotional illness, developmental disability, or addictive disease, without the benefit of a behavioral health specialist being present;
“(2) The presence of a behavioral health specialist exponentially decreases the risk of escalation;
“(3) The absence of a behavioral health specialist may result in the arrest of individuals whose conduct would be more effectively treated and stabilized in a behavioral health setting rather than a jail or prison;
“(4) Law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia frequently report that jails and prisons are becoming revolving door behavioral health hospitals of last resort;
“(5) Several law enforcement agencies in Georgia have established co-responder programs and formed co-responder partnerships with local community service boards. Community service boards provide support during emergency responses and provide follow-up services to help stabilize the individual in crisis and prevent relapse;
“(6) Combining the expertise of peace officers and behavioral health specialists to de-escalate behavioral health crises prevents unnecessary incarceration of individuals with a mental or emotional illness, developmental disability, or addictive disease and instead links those in crisis to services that promote stability and reduce the likelihood of recurrence, decreases the costs incurred by prisons and jails to incarcerate such individuals, and increases the ability of peace officers outside of the co-responder teams to focus on serious crimes; and
“(7) It is in the best interest of the state to establish the framework for a state-wide co-responder model to include emergency response co-responder teams and post-emergency behavioral health services.