2020 Georgia Code
Title 35 - Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies
Chapter 8 - Employment and Training of Peace Officers
§ 35-8-10. Applicability and Effect of Certification Requirements Generally; Requirements as to Exempt Persons

1. No person required to comply with the certification provisions of this chapter shall be employed or appointed by any law enforcement unit without certification from the council that the applicant has met the preemployment requirements established in this chapter, and no candidate shall perform any of the duties of a peace officer involving the power of arrest until such training shall have been successfully completed.
2. Peace officers commencing any employment or service on any terms with the Department of Public Safety, counties, municipalities, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Revenue, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Unit, the Secretary of State's investigative section, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, or a railroad after July 1, 1975, are required to comply with the certification provisions of this chapter. Peace officers commencing such employment or service prior to July 1, 1975, and whose employment continues on July 1, 1975, are exempt and excused from compliance with the certification provisions of this chapter except as provided in this Code section so long as the registration provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section remains in effect. Any peace officer otherwise exempt from the certification provisions of this chapter must meet the qualifications and requirements specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (5), and (8) of subsection (a) of Code Section 35-8-8.
3. If, after July 1, 1975, any other employment or service is conditioned on compliance with this chapter, persons so employed or serving shall be required to comply with the certification provisions established in this chapter, except that persons so employed or serving whose employment or service commenced prior to and continues upon the effective date of the peace officer's law enforcement unit becoming subject to the provisions of this chapter shall be exempt and excused from compliance so long as registration provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section remains in effect. Notwithstanding this subsection, the effective date of requirements for certification or registration shall be determined by the council based upon identification of the applicability of this chapter to particular peace officers. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to grant an exemption to persons required to be certified by subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section.
4. Peace officers exempt from the certification provisions of this chapter are required to register with the council. The registration shall remain in effect for the period of time said person is employed as a peace officer.
5. Any registration granted in this Code section shall not terminate upon a subsequent employment or appointment as a peace officer, provided that subsequent employment or appointment as a peace officer is recognized by the council to be substantially the same or similar to the employment or appointment by virtue of which said peace officer was exempted and registered as such; provided, further, that such subsequent employment or appointment is commenced within 12 months of such prior termination as a peace officer.
6. Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of this Code section, nothing in this subsection or in subsection (d) shall be deemed to require any exempt peace officer to comply with Code Sections 35-8-8 and 35-8-9 for the period of time the registration shall remain in effect.
7. A peace officer excused from mandatory compliance with this chapter by this Code section may choose to be certified under this chapter. If so, the council shall have the authority to recognize instruction received by such a peace officer as equivalent to all or part of the instruction required for certification under this chapter.
8. Any person who was serving as a sheriff on July 1, 1970, and who subsequently becomes a peace officer shall not be required to comply with this chapter.
9. A retired peace officer may be voluntarily registered by the council as an exempt peace officer without meeting the qualifications and requirements specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (5), and (8) of subsection (a) of Code Section 35-8-8. Such registration of a retired peace officer shall not terminate, as provided for in subsection (e) of this Code section. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to grant an exemption to persons required to be certified or registered by this chapter.

(Ga. L. 1970, p. 208, § 13; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1165, § 9; Ga. L. 1976, p. 395, § 8; Ga. L. 1977, p. 713, §§ 3-7; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1680, § 2; Ga. L. 1978, p. 2299, §§ 2-6; Ga. L. 1981, p. 778, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1355, § 2; Ga. L. 2003, p. 331, § 2.)

- Ga. L. 1993, p. 724, § 3, effective April 9, 1993, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Any person elected to the office of sheriff at the 1992 general election, which person is a registered peace officer as provided in Code Section 35-8-10, shall be exempt from any qualifications provided for sheriffs in an Act approved April 17, 1992 (Ga. L. 1992, p. 2112), which qualifications are in conflict with the provisions of this Act."

Paragraph (a)(8) of Code Section 35-8-8, referred to in this Code section, was redesignated as paragraph (a)(7) by Ga. L. 2008, p. 237, § 2/SB 373.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

No twelve month gap in employment of deputy.

- When a deputy arrested a person for being drunk at a high school football game, the deputy was entitled to qualified immunity as to the arrestee's excessive force claim because, inter alia, the deputy was certified under Georgia law and, thus, the requirement that registered peace officers not have more than a 12-month gap between positions in law enforcement was inapplicable to the deputy. Collins v. Ensley, 498 Fed. Appx. 908 (11th Cir. 2012)(Unpublished).

Cited in City of Pembroke v. Hagin, 194 Ga. App. 642, 391 S.E.2d 465 (1990).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Investigators.

- O.C.G.A. § 35-8-6(c), which authorizes the Executive Director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council to appoint investigators with the power of arrest, allows for the appointment of officers exempted from the certification requirements by the grandfathering provisions in subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 35-8-10 whose registrations have remained in effect, and who are in compliance with the officers' training requirements. 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U89-9.

- Deputy sheriff having responsibility for county jail and arrest power is subject to Ga. L. 1970, p. 208 (see now O.C.G.A. Ch. 8, T. 35); further, a person cannot be so employed without the certificate required by Ga. L. 1970, p. 208, § 13 (see now O.C.G.A. § 35-8-10). 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U71-128.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, §§ 48, 50 et seq., 76. 70 Am. Jur. 2d, Sheriffs, Police, and Constables, § 7 et seq.

- 63 C.J.S., Municipal Corporations, § 624 et seq. 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, §§ 22, 26 et seq.