The commissioner is authorized to appoint and employ such clerical force as is necessary to carry on the administration of the penal system. He may also employ such experts and technical help as are needed, along with assistants to the commissioner, wardens, superintendents, guards, and other employees necessary for the operation of the state operated institutions where inmates are confined. The commissioner shall establish and maintain in his office a complete roster of all employees in his office and in each of the various institutions operating under the authority of the board.
(Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 10; Ga. L. 1984, p. 940, § 1.)
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Determination of mental disease and transfer to mental hospital.
- Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, §§ 9, 10, 11, and 14 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 42-2-8,42-2-9,42-2-11, and42-5-52) indicate that the director (now commissioner) of corrections was authorized to determine whether or not an inmate was mentally diseased and should be transferred to a state mental hospital. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-136.
Wardens are employees of state or counties.
- Law provides for two types of wardens: those at "state-operated institutions" under Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 10 (see now O.C.G.A. § 42-2-9), and those "appointed by the governing authority of the county" under Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 18 (see now O.C.G.A. § 42-5-30); a person cannot be a warden within the state penal system unless the warden is an employee either of the state or a county authorized to maintain a county correctional institution under the supervision of the Board of Corrections. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-72.
Duty of selecting and employing wardens is vested exclusively in Board of Corrections and the director (now commissioner) thereof; the board and the board's director (now commissioner) are to exercise their informed and expert judgment in selecting and discharging such officials, and any contract or agreement whereby they seek to divest themselves of that discretion, power, and judgment is void as being contrary to public policy. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 241.
Supplementing employee salaries.- Department of Offender Rehabilitation (Corrections) may supplement salaries of teachers at Georgia Industrial Institute who are provided by the local board of education. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 162.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
C.J.S.
- 72 C.J.S., Prisons and Rights of Prisoners, §§ 13, 115.