2020 Georgia Code
Title 31 - Health
Chapter 3 - County Boards of Health
§ 31-3-4. Powers

1. The county board of health is empowered to:
   1. Establish and adopt bylaws for its own governance. Meetings shall be held no less frequently than quarterly;
   2. Exercise responsibility and authority in all matters within the county pertaining to health unless the responsibility for enforcement of such is by law that of another agency;
   3. Take such steps as may be necessary to prevent and suppress disease and conditions deleterious to health and to determine compliance with health laws and rules, regulations, and standards adopted thereunder;
   4. Adopt and enforce rules and regulations appropriate to its functions and powers, provided such rules and regulations are not in conflict with the rules and regulations of the department. Such rules and regulations must be reasonably adapted to the purposes intended and must be within the purview of the powers and duties imposed upon the county board of health by this chapter;
   5. Receive and administer all grants, gifts, moneys, and donations for purposes pertaining to health pursuant to this chapter;
   6. Make contracts and establish fees for the provision of public health services provided by county boards of health, including but not limited to environmental health services, which fees may be charged to persons or to establishments and premises within the county for inspection of such establishments, premises, structures and appurtenances thereto, or for other county board of health services.All such fees may be used to defray costs of providing such local services and shall supplement but not replace state or federal funding.No person shall be denied services on the basis of that person's inability to pay.The scope of services, operating details, contracts, and fees approved by the county board of health shall also be approved by the district director of health.No fees for environmental health services may be charged unless the schedule of fees for such services has been approved by the county governing authority;
   7. Contract with the Department of Public Health or other agencies for assistance in the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers and for supplying services which are within its purview to perform, provided that such contracts and amendments thereto shall have first been approved by the department. In entering into any contracts to perform its functions and to exercise its powers, and for supplying services which are within its purview to perform, any county board of health or any health district created under the authority of Code Section 31-3-15 shall be considered an agency and such agency shall have the authority to contract with any other county board of health; combination of county boards of health; any other health district; public or private hospitals; hospital authorities; medical schools; training and educational institutions; departments and agencies of the state; county or municipal governments; persons, partnerships, corporations, and associations, public or private; the United States government or the government of any other state; or any other legal entity; and
   8. The county board of health in each county of this state having a population of 400,000 or more according to the United States decennial census of 1990 or any future such census is authorized to develop and implement activities for the prevention of injuries and incorporate injury prevention measures in rules and regulations which are within the purview of the county board of health to promulgate which shall be effective when adopted by an ordinance of the county governing authority.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions contained in subsection (a) of this Code section and Code Section 31-3-5, nothing contained in this Code section or Code Section 31-3-5 shall be construed to empower a county board of health to adopt any rules or regulations or provisions to enforce any rules or regulations pertaining to matters provided for or otherwise regulated pursuant to the provisions of Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 8 of Title 12, the "Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act," as now or hereafter amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to such part.

(Code 1933, § 88-204, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Ga. L. 1966, p. 380, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1420, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 2031, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 1325, § 2; Ga. L. 1985, p. 419, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1757, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1204, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 3308, § 1.1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 2; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 6-3/HB 214.)

- Regulation of restaurants, taverns, and other establishments by county boards of health and Department of Public Health, § 26-2-370 et seq.

Inspection of funeral establishments by county boards of health, § 43-18-75.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1992, "such part" was substituted for "such Act" at the end of subsection (b).

- For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 147 (2011).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

County not "employer" within meaning of federal civil rights statute.

- Position of mental health center service coordinator at a county health department is created by the State of Georgia and is governed by the Georgia State Merit System of Personnel Administration for the Georgia Department of Human Resources (now the Department of Community Health for these purposes) with respect to the terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, termination, promotion, demotion, and wage rates. A fortiori, the county is not an "employer" within the meaning of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Lewis v. DeKalb County, 569 F. Supp. 11 (N.D. Ga. 1983).

Provisions of paragraph (a)(3) do not include matters relating to public safety. Vinson v. Howe Bldrs. Ass'n of Atlanta, 233 Ga. 948, 213 S.E.2d 890 (1975).

- Traumatic death or drowning is not deleterious to health within the meaning of this section and safety regulations to prevent those occurrences are not within the scope of the board's powers. Vinson v. Howe Bldrs. Ass'n, 233 Ga. 948, 213 S.E.2d 890 (1975).

- Legislature, by the legislature's use of the language "other public health services" in former paragraph (6) of O.C.G.A. § 31-3-4, intended to authorize fee collection only for those personal health care services, such as nursing homes services and mental health care, which are provided by county health boards to individual citizens. Aldridge v. Georgia Hospitality & Travel Ass'n, 251 Ga. 234, 304 S.E.2d 708 (1983).

Assessment of fees for inspection of public hotels, motels, and restaurants is simply not within the contemplation of former paragraph (6) of O.C.G.A. § 31-3-4. Aldridge v. Georgia Hospitality & Travel Ass'n, 251 Ga. 234, 304 S.E.2d 708 (1983).

Cited in Rice v. Oaks Investors II, 292 Ga. App. 692, 666 S.E.2d 63 (2008).

ANALYSIS

• General Consideration
• Fees for Services
• Contracts Pursuant to Code Section

General Consideration

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, opinions under former Code 1933, § 88-203, which was subsequently repealed but was succeeded by provisions in this Code section, are included in the annotations for this Code section.

- County boards of health have authority to make contracts and establish and accept fees for purpose of providing home health care services, including service of physical therapy, for chronically ill and aged. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-215.

- County boards of health clearly are created for public health purposes, and the boards have authority to serve patients among other activities. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U87-19.

- Existence of general laws relating to regulation of solid waste handling and management does not necessarily preclude adoption of regulations on same subject by county boards of health, provided such regulations have a reasonable relation to protection of health of citizenry of county and are not prohibited by express or implied language in Solid Waste Management Act or rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-17.

Rules and regulations of county boards of health prevail over municipal regulations. 1954-56 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 571 (decided under former Code 1933, § 88-203 prior to amendment of Chapter 88-2 by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1).

- State Health Department (now the Department of Community Health for these purposes) has power to withhold at the department's discretion state funds from a county on a variety of grounds, including refusal of county commissioners to approve budget submitted by county board of health, and can refuse to increase salaries of board of health's staff in line with State Personnel Board rules. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-165.

Fees for Services

Right of county boards to fees for health services rendered by employee.

- Since the county board of health has the general authority to establish and accept fees for purpose of providing health care services for the ill, it can therefore set, collect, and retain fees for these services where rendered by an employee. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-22.

- Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1, and Ga. L. 1966, p. 380, § 1 (see O.C.G.A. §§ 31-3-4,31-3-8, and31-3-14) indicate that county board of health shall maintain the county's funds separate from those of county, rather than that the county's funds should be paid into general county funds. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U71-120.

- County boards of health are not required to pay over money received for services performed by board to county commissioners or county treasury. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U71-120.

Purpose of the contract must come within parameters of grant of contracting power given to county board of health. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-52.

- Since both the counties and the department have authority to contract, it was self-evident that they have the authority to give consideration for the contract since, pursuant to former Code 1933, § 20-301, consideration was essential to a contract and a contract without consideration was unenforceable. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-22.

Department's consideration for contract entered may be services of state employee. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-22.

- Consideration given by county for contract may be rendering of services to state which county would not otherwise be obligated to perform, or, if county is already obligated to perform such services, some other consideration such as money may be substituted. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-22.

County board of health, in providing consideration to support a contract, may provide personal services. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-52.

- Department of Human Resources (now the Department of Community Health for these purposes) may contractually obligate itself to provide, through a county board of health, one of its employees to work for a private nonprofit corporation which furnishes mental health services. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-52.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 39 Am. Jur. 2d, Health, §§ 2, 8 et seq.

- 39A C.J.S., Health and Environment, § 4 et seq.

- Right of one detained pursuant to quarantine to habeas corpus, 2 A.L.R. 1542.

Regulation of business of tattooing, 81 A.L.R.3d 1212.