2025 Code of Georgia
Title 37 - Mental Health (Chs. 1 — 13)
Chapter 12 - Georgia Behavioral Health and Peace Officer Co-Responder Programs (§§ 37-12-1 — 37-12-14)
Annotations
Notes
Effective date.This chapter became effective July 1, 2022.
Code Commission notes.Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2022, Title 37, Chapter 11, as enacted by Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 5/SB 403, was redesignated as Title 37, Chapter 12.
Editor’s notes.Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 1/SB 403, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Georgia Behavioral Health and Peace Officer Co-Responder Act.’”
Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 2/SB 403, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds that:
“(1) Demands on peace officers include responding to emergencies involving individuals with a mental or emotional illness, developmental disability, or addictive disease, without the benefit of a behavioral health specialist being present;
“(2) The presence of a behavioral health specialist exponentially decreases the risk of escalation;
“(3) The absence of a behavioral health specialist may result in the arrest of individuals whose conduct would be more effectively treated and stabilized in a behavioral health setting rather than a jail or prison;
“(4) Law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia frequently report that jails and prisons are becoming revolving door behavioral health hospitals of last resort;
“(5) Several law enforcement agencies in Georgia have established co-responder programs and formed co-responder partnerships with local community service boards. Community service boards provide support during emergency responses and provide follow-up services to help stabilize the individual in crisis and prevent relapse;
“(6) Combining the expertise of peace officers and behavioral health specialists to de-escalate behavioral health crises prevents unnecessary incarceration of individuals with a mental or emotional illness, developmental disability, or addictive disease and instead links those in crisis to services that promote stability and reduce the likelihood of recurrence, decreases the costs incurred by prisons and jails to incarcerate such individuals, and increases the ability of peace officers outside of the co-responder teams to focus on serious crimes; and
“(7) It is in the best interest of the state to establish the framework for a state-wide co-responder model to include emergency response co-responder teams and post-emergency behavioral health services.”
Research References & Practice Aids
Hierarchy Notes:O. C. G. A. Title 37
- § 37-12-1. Definitions
- § 37-12-2. Co-responder partnership programs; operations and transportation
- § 37-12-3. Identification of entities responding to emergency calls
- § 37-12-4. Contracting with behavioral health professionals for participation as community service board team member; list of emergency receiving facilities
- § 37-12-5. Role of law enforcement agencies
- § 37-12-6. Crisis intervention team training
- § 37-12-7. Notification of co-responder team of emergencies
- § 37-12-8. Co-responder protocol committee; role
- § 37-12-9. Role of community service boards following response
- § 37-12-10. Identification of individuals better served by behavioral health system than criminal justice system; referral system
- § 37-12-11. Record keeping; annual reporting
- § 37-12-12. Funding and budgeting; collaboration
- § 37-12-13. Liability
- § 37-12-14. Statutory construction
