Georgia Code
Article 2 - Child Abuse Records
§ 49-5-40. Definitions; Confidentiality of Records; Restricted Access to Records

However, no child who in good faith is being treated solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall, for that reason alone, be considered to be abused.
History. Ga. L. 1975, p. 1135, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1000, § 2; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1778, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1712, § 1; Ga. L. 2007, p. 478, § 7/SB 128; Ga. L. 2009, p. 43, § 1/SB 79; Ga. L. 2009, p. 733, § 3/SB 69; Ga. L. 2016, p. 160, § 2/HB 725; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 49/HB 323; Ga. L. 2021, p. 134, § 14/SB 28.
The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, rewrote this Code section.
The 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation throughout subparagraph (a)(4)(A).
The 2021 amendment, effective January 1, 2022, substituted “Sexual servitude, as defined in Code Section 16-5-46” for “Prostitution, in violation of Code Section 16-6-9” in subparagraph (a)(11)(B).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2016, p. 160, § 1/HB 725, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Child Abuse Records Protection Act.’”
Cross references.
Persons required to report instances of child abuse, § 19-7-5 .
Battery, assault and stalking involving family members, § 19-13-1 et seq.
Toll free number for reporting child abuse or neglect, § 20-2-324.4 .
Law reviews.
For article, “Georgia’s Open Records and Open Meetings Laws: A Continued March Toward Government in the Sunshine,” see 40 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (1988).
For article, “Practical Challenges to Representing Unaccompanied Children Before the Atlanta Immigration Court,” see 22 Ga. St. Bar J. 35 (April 2017).

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