Powers and Duties of Department

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Social Services
  4. Department of Juvenile Justice
  5. Powers and Duties of Department

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  1. The department shall be authorized to:
    1. Accept for detention in a juvenile detention facility any child who is committed to the department under Article 6 of Chapter 11 of Title 15;
    2. Provide probation and other court services for children pursuant to a request from a court under Article 6 of Chapter 11 of Title 15;
    3. Provide casework services and care or payment of maintenance costs for children who have run away from their home communities within this state or from their home communities in this state to another state or from their home communities in another state to this state; pay the costs of returning such runaway children to their home communities; and provide such services, care, or costs for runaway children as may be required under Chapter 4B of Title 49;
    4. Enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with federal, state, county, and municipal governments and their agencies and departments; enter into contracts with public and private institutions and agencies of this and other states; enter into leases with private vendors selected to operate programs on behalf of the department which shall run concurrently with the department's service contracts; provided, however, that any such lease shall provide that if the property which is the subject of the lease is sold and conveyed during the term of the lease, such lease shall expire by operation of law 90 days after the closing of such sale and conveyance; and enter into contracts with individuals, as may be necessary or desirable in effectuating the purposes of this chapter; and
    5. Solicit and accept donations, contributions, and gifts and receive, hold, and use grants, devises, and bequests of real, personal, and mixed property on behalf of the state to enable the department to carry out its functions and purposes.
  2. When given legal custody over a child for detention in a juvenile detention facility under court order under Article 6 of Chapter 11 of Title 15, the department shall have:
    1. The right of physical possession of such child;
    2. The right and duty to protect, train, and discipline such child;
    3. The responsibility to provide such child with food, clothing, shelter, and education;
    4. The right to determine in which facility such child shall live and to transfer such child as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 42-5-52; and
    5. The right and duty to provide or obtain for such child medical, hospital, psychiatric, surgical, or dental care or services as may be considered appropriate and necessary by competent medical authority without securing prior consent of parents or legal guardians.
  3. The board may authorize the commissioner to enter into contracts and agreements provided for in this Code section subject to the approval of the board or may, through appropriate action of the board, delegate such authority to the commissioner; provided, however, that any contract or agreement that provides services to delinquent children shall be a performance based contract that includes financial incentives or consequences based on the results achieved by the contractor as measured by output, quality, or outcome measures.

(Code 1981, §49-4A-7, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 1983, § 24; Ga. L. 1994, p. 304, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 955, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1414, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 128, § 49; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 3-7/HB 242; Ga. L. 2014, p. 763, § 3-2/HB 898.)

The 2013 amendment, effective January 1, 2014, substituted "Article 6" for "Article 1" throughout this Code section; in paragraph (a)(1), deleted "youth development center or other" preceding "juvenile detention"; in paragraph (a)(2), deleted "and parole" following "probation", and deleted "and youth" following "children"; in paragraph (a)(3), deleted "and youths" following "children" three times; in paragraph (a)(4), deleted "leases" following "department which" near the middle; in subsection (b), in the introductory paragraph, deleted "or youth" following "a child", substituted "juvenile detention" for "youth development center or other"; in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(4), substituted "such child" for "the child or youth" ; in paragraph (b)(4), inserted "and to transfer such child as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 42-5-52"; in paragraph (b)(5), substituted "such child" for "a child or youth" ; and added the proviso at the end of subsection (c). See editor's note for applicability.

The 2014 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, substituted "Chapter 4B of Title 49" for "Chapter 3 of Title 39" at the end of paragraph (a)(3).

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."

Law reviews.

- For annual survey on administrative law, see 66 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2014).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Medical care.

- State had a duty to provide youth in their custody with medical care and treatment, but the details of that care were discretionary and therefore subject to immunity under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq. Edwards v. Department of Children & Youth Servs., 236 Ga. App. 696, 512 S.E.2d 339 (1999).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

All costs related to subsistence and detention, including emergency medical costs, incurred on behalf of juveniles held in the Department of Juvenile Justice facilities prior to a formal commitment to the department are properly assessed to the counties. 2002 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2002-6.


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