Georgia Code
Chapter 4A - Department of Juvenile Justice
§ 49-4A-3. Department of Juvenile Justice Created; Commissioner of Juvenile Justice; Organization and Operation of Department

History. Code 1981, § 49-4A-3 , enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 1983, § 24; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1453, § 6; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 3-3/HB 242.
The 2013 amendment, effective January 1, 2014, in subsection (a), deleted the former second sentence, which read: “The Department of Juvenile Justice shall be the successor entity to the Department of Children and Youth Services and the change is intended to be one of name only; and the commissioner of juvenile justice shall be the successor to the commissioner of children and youth services and the change is intended to be one of name only.”, substituted “department” for “Department of Juvenile Justice” in the second and last sentences, substituted “shall not” for “may not” in the third sentence, and deleted “of juvenile justice” following “the commissioner” in the last sentence; in subsection (b), in the introductory paragraph, substituted “delinquent children” for “juvenile delinquents” in the first sentence, substituted “children” for “juveniles” in the second sentence, and rewrote the third sentence, which read: “Additionally, the department will be authorized to provide for specialized treatment for juvenile offenders, in lieu of commitment, who have been found to be sex offenders or drug abusers and who may have behavior disorders”; inserted “using evidence based programs or practices” in paragraph (b)(1); inserted “based on evidence based programs or practices and be” in paragraph (b)(3); substituted “Being consumer driven” for “The department shall be consumer driven” in paragraph (b)(6); and substituted “Encouraging” for “The department shall encourage” in paragraph (b)(7). See editor’s note for applicability.
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions.

Structure Georgia Code