2021 Georgia Code
Title 42 - Penal Institutions
Chapter 4 - Jails
Article 2 - Conditions of Detention
§ 42-4-32. Sanitation and Health Requirements Generally; Meals; Inspections; Medical Treatment
- All aspects of food preparation and food service shall conform to the applicable standards of the Department of Public Health.
- All inmates shall be given not less than two substantial and wholesome meals daily.
- Sanitation inspections of both facilities and inmates shall be made as frequently as is necessary to ensure against the presence of unsanitary conditions. An official from the Department of Public Health or an officer designated by the commissioner of public health shall inspect the facilities at least once every three months. New inmates should be carefully classified, with adequate separation and treatment given as needed.
- The officer in charge or his designated representative shall assure that each inmate is observed daily, and a physician shall be immediately called if there are indications of serious injury, wound, or illness. The instructions of the physician shall be strictly carried out. Ill inmates shall be furnished such food as is prescribed by the attending physician.
(Ga. L. 1973, p. 890, § 3; Ga. L. 1977, p. 761, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 135, § 2; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, §§ 1-4, 1-6/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, §§ 6-3, 6-5/HB 214.)
Cross references.- Authority of grand juries to inspect sanitary conditions in jails, § 15-12-78.
Liability of sheriffs for misconduct of jailers, § 15-16-24.
Law reviews.- For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 147 (2011).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Violation of duties.
- Court granted summary judgment to the United States in a suit alleging that conditions at a county jail violated the inmates' federal due process rights. A sheriff and the members of a county board of commissioners did not dispute that the conditions, including the presence of vermin and sewerage problems, in violation of O.C.G.A. § 42-4-32, were unconstitutional, and the evidence showed that they had subjective knowledge of the conditions, including copies of the United States' investigation reports, and acted with indifference that exceeded negligence. United States v. Terrell County, 457 F. Supp. 2d 1359 (M.D. Ga. 2006).
Sovereign immunity to deputy sheriff.
- Deputy sheriff in the deputy's official capacity was entitled to sovereign immunity with respect to a former inmate's claims arising from denial of a dietary request; the sheriff's powers were derived from the state, and provision of food to county jail inmates was a state function. Lake v. Skelton, 840 F.3d 1334 (11th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 1549, 200 L. Ed. 2d 741 (U.S. 2018).
Cited in Manders v. Lee, 338 F.3d 1304 (11th Cir. 2003).
