Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; Composition; Appointment; Administration and Duties; Immunity From Liability

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Penal Institutions
  4. General Provisions
  5. Sexual Offender Registration Review Board
  6. Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; Composition; Appointment; Administration and Duties; Immunity From Liability

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  1. The Sexual Offender Registration Review Board shall be composed of three professionals licensed under Title 43 and knowledgeable in the field of the behavior and treatment of sexual offenders; at least one representative from a victims' rights advocacy group or agency; and at least two representatives from law enforcement, each of whom is either employed by a law enforcement agency as a certified peace officer under Title 35 or retired from such employment. The members of the board shall be appointed by the commissioner of behavioral health and developmental disabilities for terms of four years. On and after July 1, 2006, successors to the members of the board shall be appointed by the Governor. Members of the board shall take office on the first day of September immediately following the expired term of that office and shall serve for a term of four years and until the appointment of their respective successors. No member shall serve on the board more than two consecutive terms. Vacancies occurring on the board, other than those caused by expiration of a term of office, shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment to the position vacated for the remainder of the unexpired term and until a successor is appointed. Members shall be entitled to an expense allowance and travel cost reimbursement the same as members of certain other boards and commissions as provided in Code Section 45-7-21.
  2. The board shall be attached to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for administrative purposes and, provided there is adequate funding, shall:
    1. Exercise its quasi-judicial, rule-making, or policy-making functions independently of the department and without approval or control of the department;
    2. Prepare its budget, if any, and submit its budgetary requests, if any, through the department; and
    3. Hire its own personnel, including but not limited to administrative personnel and clinical evaluators.
  3. Any investigator who, as of June 30, 2012, was employed by the board shall be transferred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on July 1, 2012, and shall no longer be under the administration or supervision of the board, except as required to provide the board with information as set forth in paragraph (15) of subsection (a) of Code Section 35-3-4. The executive director of the board shall arrange administratively for the transfer of any equipment relating to the transfer of such personnel.
  4. Members of the board shall be immune from liability for good faith conduct under this article.

(Code 1981, §42-1-13, enacted by Ga. L. 2006, p. 379, § 24/HB 1059; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, §§ 3-2, 3-3/HB 228; Ga. L. 2012, p. 985, § 2/HB 895.)

The 2012 amendment, effective July 1, 2012, substituted ", including but not limited to administrative personnel and clinical evaluators" for "if authorized by the Constitution of this state or by statute or if the General Assembly provides or authorizes the expenditure of funds therefor" in paragraph (b)(3); added subsection (c); and redesignated former subsection (c) as present subsection (d).

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2012, "paragraph (15) of subsection (a) of Code Section 35-3-4" was substituted for "paragraph (14) of subsection (a) of Code Section 35-3-4" in the first sentence of subsection (c).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2006, p. 379, § 24/HB 1059, July 1, 2006, repealed the former Code section and enacted the current Code section. The former Code section, pertaining to registered sex offenders residing within areas in which minors congregate, was based on Code 1981, § 42-1-13, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 878, § 1. For present similar provisions, see Code Section42-1-15.

Ga. L. 2006, p. 379, § 30/HB 1059, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that: "(b) Any person required to register pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 42-1-12, relating to the state sexual offender registry, and any person required not to reside within areas where minors congregate, as prohibited by Code Section 42-1-13, shall not be relieved of the obligation to comply with the provisions of said Code sections by the repeal and reenactment of said Code sections.

"(c) The provisions of this Act shall not affect or abate the status as a crime of any such act or omission which occurred prior to the effective date of the Act repealing, repealing and reenacting, or amending such law, nor shall the prosecution of such crime be abated as a result of such repeal, repeal and reenactment, or amendment."

Administrative Rules and Regulations.

- The Georgia Sexually Violent Offender Registry, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Crime Information Center Council, Practice and Procedure, Chapter 140-2.

Law reviews.

- For article on 2006 amendment of this Code section, see 23 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 11 (2006). For annual survey on administrative law, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 39 (2012). For note, "Banishing Acts: How Far May States Go to Keep Convicted Sex Offenders Away from Children?," see 40 Ga. L. Rev. 961 (2006).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Registration for first offender.

- Georgia superior court properly required a first offender to register as a sex offender pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 42-1-12 as both the 2005 and 2006 amendments to the statute dictated registration, and despite the fact that registration was not part of the first offender's plea agreement, as neither the court nor the prosecutor had the power to exempt the first offender from the adoption of new rules regarding registration entered after the plea. Peters v. Donald, 282 Ga. App. 714, 639 S.E.2d 345 (2006).

Cited in Watson v. State, 283 Ga. App. 635, 642 S.E.2d 328 (2007); State v. Davis, 303 Ga. 684, 814 S.E.2d 701 (2018).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Validity of statutes imposing residency restrictions on registered sex offenders, 25 A.L.R.6th 227.

Validity, construction, and application of federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C.A. § 16901 et seq., its enforcement provision, 18 U.S.C.A § 2250, and associated regulations, 30 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 213.

Validity of state sex offender registration laws under ex post facto prohibitions, 63 A.L.R. 6th 351.


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