The department shall bill persons liable for cost of care for the amount due on their assessments in the same manner as other debts and accounts. No bill shall be payable unless it contains the dates of service for which the costs billed therein were incurred. The department is authorized to maintain in the name of the department and the State of Georgia any action at law or equity in any court of this state or any other state which may be necessary to collect such sums.
(Ga. L. 1960, p. 1138, § 10; Ga. L. 1979, p. 834, § 10; Ga. L. 1996, p. 949, § 1.)
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 1996, p. 949, § 2, effective April 15, 1996, provides that the 1996 amendment becomes effective only when funds are specifically appropriated for purposes of that Act in an Appropriations Act making specific reference to that Act. Funds were not appropriated at the 1996, 1997, or 1998 session of the General Assembly. Funds were appropriated at the 1999 session of the General Assembly.
Law reviews.- For comment advocating legislative determination of parental liability for costs of institutional custody of child involuntarily committed to a mental health facility in response to criminal behavior in light of Treglown v. Department of Health & Social Servs., 38 Wis. 2d 317, 156 N.W.2d 363 (1968), see 19 Mercer L. Rev. 457 (1968).