2021 Georgia Code
Title 42 - Penal Institutions
Chapter 5 - Correctional Institutions of State and Counties
Article 3 - Conditions of Detention Generally
§ 42-5-53. Establishment of County Correctional Institutions; Supervision by Department; Quota of Inmates; Funding; Confinement and Withdrawal of Inmates

1. Subject to the provisions stated in this Code section, any county may purchase, rent, establish, construct, and maintain a county correctional institution for the care and detention of all inmates assigned to it by the department. The county may contract with other counties relative to the joint care, upkeep, and working of the inmates in such counties. Each county may pay its pro rata share of such expenses by taxes assessed and levied as provided by law.
2. All county correctional institutions established by the counties as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be subject to supervision and control by the department, and the board shall promulgate rules and regulations governing the administration and operation thereof.
3. 1. Each county establishing a county correctional institution which complies with the rules and requirements established by the board and which is approved by the board shall receive a quota of inmates in accordance with such methods of apportionment as may be established by the board.
   2. The department is authorized, pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the board, to pay funds, in an amount appropriated by the General Assembly for the purposes specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection, for each state inmate assigned to a county correctional institution to the county operating the facility. The amount so paid shall be determined on the basis of an equal amount per day for each state inmate assigned to the county correctional institution.
   3. Each county is authorized to use the money paid to it pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection for the operation and maintenance of the county correctional institution or may use the money so paid to supplant county funds or previous levels of county funding for the county correctional institution. Following a full hearing, the board is given the authority to withhold payment or withdraw all inmates from any county correctional institution which does not at any time meet or comply with the rules, regulations, and requirements of the board or comply with its directions.
4. In all cases in which an inmate is the sole responsibility of a county and the board has no authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility with respect to the sentence of the inmate, the county may confine the inmate in a county correctional institution established pursuant to this Code section. Counties without a county correctional institution may contract with counties having a county correctional institution to maintain the inmate.
5. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to prohibit the board from withdrawing inmates from any county correctional institution which does not at any time comply with the rules and regulations of the board promulgated pursuant to Code Section 42-5-10 or from withdrawing inmates from any county correctional institution which does not at any time meet the requirements of the board or comply with its directives. For reasons other than the failure to comply with the rules, regulations, requirements, and directives, the board is authorized to withdraw all inmates under its jurisdiction from all county correctional institutions under the following conditions:
   1. That such withdrawal shall include all inmates under the jurisdiction of the board assigned to all county correctional institutions and that the withdrawal shall be completed within one year after the effective date of the beginning of the withdrawal;
   2. That all county correctional institutions shall be notified at least one year in advance of the effective date of the beginning of the withdrawal;
   3. That each county affected by the withdrawal shall have the option of selling or leasing its county correctional institution to the department, provided the House Committee on State Properties and the Senate State Institutions and Property Committee shall certify to the department that the facility is suitable for inmate housing and provided, further, that the sale price of the facility or the lease rental payments for the facility shall be determined by a board of three appraisers selected as follows:
      1. One to be selected by the department;
      2. One to be selected by the governing authority of the county; and
      3. The third to be selected by the other two appraisers;
   4. That each county affected by the withdrawal shall have 30 days from the date of the issuance of the notice required by paragraph (2) of this subsection to notify the department that the facility is to be sold to the department, the facility is to be leased to the department, or the county will keep and maintain the facility for its own use. If the department is not so notified within the time limitation, the department shall be under no obligation to lease or purchase the facility;
   5. That if the county elects to sell or lease the facility, the committees named in paragraph (3) of this subsection shall have 60 days from the time the department is notified of such decision in which to inspect the facility and make its recommendations and certification to the department;
   6. That if any such facility is leased by the department, the term of the lease, the requirements relative to the repair, maintenance, and improvements of the facility by the county, and the requirements relative to the renewal of the lease shall be as agreed upon by the department and the governing authority of the county; and
   7. That the sales price or lease rental payments for each facility and the requirements relative to the lease contract when the facility is leased shall be determined within six months after the issuance of the notice of the effective date of the beginning of the withdrawal required by paragraph (2) of this subsection and that, if they are not determined within the time limitation, the department shall be under no obligation to lease or purchase the facility.

(Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 16; Ga. L. 1964, p. 491, § 1; Ga. L. 1970, p. 318, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 908, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 470, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 42; Ga. L. 1985, p. 283, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 42; Ga. L. 1995, p. 10, § 42; Ga. L. 2009, p. 303, § 3/HB 117; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 42/HB 79.)

The 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "House Committee on State Properties" for "State Institutions and Property Committee of the House of Representatives" in paragraph (e)(3).

- Ga. L. 2009, p. 303, § 20/HB 117, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act is intended to reflect the current internal organization of the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives and is not otherwise intended to change substantive law. In the event of a conflict with any other Act of the 2009 General Assembly, such other Act shall control over this Act."

Cited in Wilson v. Kelley, 294 F. Supp. 1005 (N.D. Ga. 1968); Wilkes County v. Arrendale, 227 Ga. 289, 180 S.E.2d 548 (1971); Williams v. Georgia Dep't of Cors., 224 Ga. App. 571, 481 S.E.2d 272 (1997); Manders v. Lee, 338 F.3d 1304 (11th Cir. 2003).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Distinction between state and county prisoners continues.

- Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 23 and Ga. L. 1969, p. 598, § 1 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 42-2-11 and42-5-57) relate to "state prisoners" rather than "county prisoners"; the distinction between "state" and "county" prisoners continues in effect even though both may be confined in a county work camp (now county correctional institution). 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-134.

- If a county correctional institution fails to employ a warden who is duly qualified according to the requirements set forth by the board, the board may remove all the prisoners from that institution. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-41.

- This section expressly authorizes county to rent a public works camp (now county correctional institution), and does not require the county to obtain fee simple title as do the policies applicable to property acquired and institutions conducted by the state itself. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 254.

- Terms of any lease are subject to approval and supervision of the Board of Corrections, and it is entirely a matter of policy for the board to determine as to whether a proposed lease is acceptable. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 254.

- Exceptions to the general category of prisoners set forth in subsection (a) of this section must be explicitly set forth in the statute, as was done for county prisoners in subsection (d) of this section; this would preclude the use of city prisoners in public works camps (now county correctional institutions). 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 571.

County public works camps (now county correctional institutions) are not "detention facilities" and are to be regulated as the camps have been in the past by the Board of Corrections. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-117.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Institution for the punishment or rehabilitation of criminals, delinquents, or alcoholics as enjoinable nuisance, 21 A.L.R.3d 1058.