2020 Georgia Code
Title 35 - Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies
Chapter 8 - Employment and Training of Peace Officers
§ 35-8-7. Powers and Duties of Council Generally

The council is vested with the following powers and duties:

1. To meet at such times and places as it may deem necessary;
2. To contract with other agencies, public or private, or persons as it deems necessary for the rendering and affording of such services, facilities, studies, and reports to the council as will best assist it to carry out its duties and responsibilities;
3. To cooperate with and secure the cooperation of every department, agency, or instrumentality in the state government or its political subdivisions in the furtherance of the purposes of this chapter;
4. To establish criteria to be used in certifying schools authorized to conduct training required by this chapter;
5. To certify schools as authorized to conduct training required by this chapter;
6. To prescribe minimum qualifications for directors of schools certified to conduct training required by this chapter;
7. To certify such school directors;
8. To establish minimum qualifications for instructors at schools certified to conduct training required by this chapter;
9. To certify instructors authorized to conduct training required by this chapter;
10. To reevaluate certified schools annually to determine if such schools shall continue to be certified;
11. To withdraw or suspend certification of schools, school directors, and instructors who fail to continue to meet or maintain, at any given time, the criteria and qualifications required for school, school director, or instructor certification;
12. To determine whether a candidate has met the requirements of this chapter and is qualified to be employed as a peace officer and to issue a certificate to those so qualified;
13. To certify to designated law enforcement units a candidate's successful completion of the course;
14. To refuse to grant a certificate to or to discipline a certified peace officer or an exempt peace officer under this chapter or any antecedent law;
15. To establish and modify the curriculum, including the methods of instruction, composing the basic training courses and to set the minimum number of hours therefor;
16. To establish and recommend curricula for such advanced, in-service, and specialized training courses as the council shall deem advisable and to recognize the completion of such courses by the issuance of certificates;
17. To provide technical assistance as requested by law enforcement units;
18. To provide for and administer the registration of all exempt peace officers;
19. To research, plan, and establish policy relative to peace officer training and to develop and coordinate the delivery of peace officer training programs through such agencies and institutions as the council may deem appropriate;
20. To establish as part of the curriculum for basic and in-service training courses for all peace officers training on organized criminal activity and criminal street gangs;
21. To develop, adopt, and issue advanced or professional peace officer certificates based upon the attainment of specified education, advanced or specialized training, and experience as the council may determine;
22. To provide and administer the certification of persons qualified to operate radar speed detection devices and to withdraw or suspend such certificates as provided for in this chapter;
23. To impose administrative fees, as determined by the council, for services provided pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;
24. To adopt in accordance with Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act," such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter; and
25. To do any and all things necessary or convenient to enable it to perform wholly and adequately its duties and to exercise the power granted to it.

(Ga. L. 1970, p. 208, § 6; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1165, § 4; Ga. L. 1976, p. 395, § 7; Ga. L. 1977, p. 713, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1977, p. 717, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1680, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 979, § 2; Ga. L. 1985, p. 539, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 35; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1488, § 4; Ga. L. 1998, p. 270, § 12; Ga. L. 2010, p. 212, § 1/SB 324.)

- Ga. L. 2010, p. 212, § 2/SB 324, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed so as to suggest that any administrative fees that may have been collected by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council prior to this Act's enactment were collected without authority. Nor shall this Act be construed so as to create in any person paying administrative fees prior to the effective date of this Act a cause of action for the payment of such fees." This Act became effective May 20, 2010.

- Administration of Council, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, § 464-1-.01.

- For review of 1998 legislation relating to crimes and offenses, see 15 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 80 (1998).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Certification requirement.

- Since the arresting officer met all the requirements of Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 35 (see now O.C.G.A. § 35-8-8) and had successfully completed the course required by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1165, § 6 (see now O.C.G.A. § 35-8-9), the officer was not disqualified to make arrests on the ground that the officer had not yet been certified under Ga. L. 1980, p. 979, § 2 (see now O.C.G.A. § 35-8-7). Davis v. State, 164 Ga. App. 312, 295 S.E.2d 131 (1982).

Cited in City of Pembroke v. Hagin, 194 Ga. App. 642, 391 S.E.2d 465 (1990); State v. Hartsfield, 318 Ga. App. 692, 734 S.E.2d 513 (2012).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Council authorized to take prior training into account when deciding on individual's certification.

- Since the council is authorized to determine who, in the council's judgment and discretion, has fulfilled the training requirements of this chapter and ought to be certified, the council is fully consonant with the council's responsibility and authority to take prior law enforcement training into account when deciding whether or not to certify an individual as a peace officer, regardless of the individual's status at the time the individual received such training. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-118.

Responsibility for the proper administration of any funds received lies with the council; as an activity of the Department of Public Safety, though, the council is subject to budgetary adjustments just as any other activity within the department. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-89.

- Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council is required to reimburse school security personnel employed by the board of education of a county or an independent board of education of a municipality for the various public schools for certain costs incurred in training. 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. 89-29.

- While it would be fully consistent with the council's statutorily delegated authority to assume the responsibility for reimbursing state and local government units over whose law enforcement personnel the council has mandatory training and certification authority, the council would be exceeding the council's statutory powers if the council were to administrate reimbursement procedures or authorize reimbursement for civilians or other private personnel whom the council is not mandated to train or certify. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-118.

- For discussion of how amendments to the Gun Control Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. § 921 et seq., banning possession of guns by individuals convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, affect the council's responsibilities in certification matters, see 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-25.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 50 et seq.

- 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, §§ 324, 325, 334. 73 C.J.S., Public Administrative Law and Procedures, § 108 et seq.