2025 Code of Georgia
Title 30 - Handicapped Persons (Chs. 1 — 10)
Chapter 3 - Access to and Use of Public Facilities by Persons With Disabilities (§§ 30-3-1 — 30-3-9)

Annotations

Notes

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 1981, p. 1469, set forth a resolution as to enactment, adoption, and promulgation of ordinances and resolutions by political subdivisions “with a view towards making it as easy as possible for handicapped persons to live in a manner similar to other citizens of this state with particular emphasis on residences for handicapped citizens.”

The former chapter, relating to access to and use of public buildings by physically handicapped persons, consisted of Code Sections 30-3-1 through 30-3-19. That chapter was based on Ga. L. 1972, p. 750, §§ 1, 2, and 5 through 22; Ga. L. 1977, p. 552, §§ 1, 2, and 4 through 6; Ga. L. 1981, p. 1779, § 10; and Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 30, and was repealed by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1255, § 1, effective July 1, 1984.

Opinion Notes

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Waiver of standards. —

Standards may be waived by the appropriate authority upon a showing of impracticality or lack of necessity. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-61.

Extent of accessibility in buildings. —

Every floor or every room of every building subject to this chapter must be accessible to the handicapped, provided that the floor or room in question is used by the public or might be a place of employment for an elderly or handicapped citizen. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-61.

Bathroom accessibility. —

If on every floor made accessible to the handicapped, one bathroom is made accessible to the handicapped, all other bathrooms on that floor must also be made accessible to the handicapped, unless the requirement is waived. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-61.

Elevators. —

An elevator is not required in all buildings subject to this chapter which are two stories or more in height, although as a practical matter the requirement of handicap accessibility will often have to be met by the installation of elevators. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-61.

Hospital rooms. —

The “temporary lodging unit” exemption in former O. C. G. A. § 30-3-2(5) (see now O. C. G. A. § 30-2-5(8)) could properly be relied upon by a private hospital, although care should be taken to ensure that a patient was placed in a disabled access room or ward if the patient or the patient’s visitors were disabled. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-61.

Jail cells. —

Although the “temporary lodging unit exemption” by its terms does not apply to government funded facilities, including jails and hospitals, a jail cell is not “used by the public” and so does not fall within the general terms of this chapter. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-61.

Places of worship

are not exempt from the requirements of this chapter. 1995 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 95-20.

Research References & Practice Aids

Cross references.

Financial assistance for transportation services for elderly and disabled persons, § 49-2-13.1.

Administrative rules and regulations.

Access To and Use of Public Facilities by Handicapped Persons, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Office of Commissioner of Insurance, Safety Fire Commissioner, and Industrial Loan Commissioner, Rules of Safety Fire Commissioner, Rule 120-3-20-.01 et seq.

Law reviews.

For note, “Breaking the Binary: Desegregation of Bathrooms,” see 36 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 381 (2020).

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR.

Validity and construction of state statutes requiring construction of handicapped access facilities in buildings open to public, 82 A. L. R.4th 121.

Service Animals Under Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U. S. C. A. §§ 12101 et seq., 53 A. L. R. Fed. 3d 1.

Actions Brought Under Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U. S. C. A. § § 12101 et seq. — Supreme Court Cases, 83 A. L. R. Fed. 3d 2.

Hierarchy Notes:

O. C. G. A. Title 30