2020 Georgia Code
Title 20 - Education
Chapter 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education
Article 10 - Contracts and Purchases by Public Schools
§ 20-2-505. Member Prohibited From Selling School Supplies or Equipment to County Board; Penalty
- No member of any county board of education in this state shall sell to any county board any supplies or equipment used, consumed, or necessary in the operation of any public school in this state unless there are fewer than three sources for such supplies or equipment within the county; provided, however, that any purchase pursuant to this subsection for supplies or equipment that is equal to or greater than $10,000.00 shall be approved by a majority of the members of the board in an open public meeting.
- Any member of any county board violating subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Ga. L. 1943, p. 273, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 2008, p. 143, § 1/HB 602.)
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Section not applicable to sale or procurement of "insurance."
- This section is limited in the statute's application to the sale of "supplies and equipment" to schools or school systems and has been construed as being not applicable to the sale or procurement of "insurance" on school property. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 158.
Section applicable to professional services.- Local school board members may not provide professional services for compensation to the school systems the members represent. 1997 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 97-12.
Section not applicable to subcontractors on school board project.
- County school board members who are subcontractors on a school board project are not generally subject to criminal prosecution under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-505. 1997 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 97-29.
Common-law rule prohibits board member from selling fire insurance to county board.- Words "supplies or equipment" under this section would not cover the sale of fire insurance; therefore, this section would not apply to the sale of fire insurance to a county board of education by a member of the board; however, Georgia has always followed the common-law rule that no public agent may take a profit out of public business entrusted to the agent's care and, thus, a member of a local school board may not sell fire insurance to a county board of education. 1954-56 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 192.
Trustee of a local school does not come within the provision of this section in that a trustee acts only in an advisory capacity. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 351.
Board cannot do business with entity owned by board employee.- It is illegal for a county board of education to do business with a corporation or partnership which is partly owned by a member of the board. 1954-56 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 186.
It is illegal for a county board of education to do business with a private enterprise, corporation, or partnership either partly or wholly owned by a member of the county board of education. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 148.
Legality of sales to county board, one of whose members is stockholder in the corporation making the sale is dependent upon the amount of ownership the board member has in the corporation. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 65.
Member of county board cannot sell gasoline to board of which the seller is a member. 1954-56 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 189.
Board may not purchase gasoline from corporation where board member is a shareholder in the corporation. 1954-56 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 188.
Board may do business with firm employing board member.- It is legal for a local board of education to do business with a firm when a board member is a salaried (no financial interest in the firm) employee of the firm provided, however, that the board member does not make the sale and there is no evidence that the amount of the member's compensation as an employee of the firm was or is dependent in any way upon the making of the contract. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 102.
Board may make purchase from estate administered by board member.- Board of education, though prohibited from doing business with an enterprise in which a board member has a personal financial interest, may purchase milk from a dairy which is part of an estate of which the board member is the administrator but is otherwise a disinterested person without direct and substantial interest in the estate. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 149.
Member of a county board may not provide services for buses owned by the board. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 147.
Prohibition against selling services not applicable for essential public services.- Policy of this section extends the prohibition against selling supplies and equipment to services as well; this prohibition does not apply in the case of ownership of public utilities, such as telephone companies, if the service is essential, if the service cannot be obtained from another source, and if the rates are regulated by an agency such as the Public Service Commission. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-138.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 68 Am. Jur. 2d, Schools, § 29.
C.J.S.- 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, §§ 96 et seq., 564, 614.
