GA Code § 19-15-2 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 19 - Domestic Relations|Chapter 15 - Child Abuse|§ 19-15-2. Protocol Committee on Child Abuse; Written Protocol; Training of Members; Written Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Protocol

  Except as provided in paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of this Code section, each county shall be required to establish a protocol for the investigation and prosecution of alleged cases of child abuse as provided in this Code section.     The chief superior court judge of the circuit in which the county is located shall establish a protocol committee as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section and shall appoint an interim chairperson who shall preside over the first meeting, and the chief superior court judge shall appoint persons to fill any vacancies on the protocol committee.   After the establishment of a protocol committee, the committee members shall elect a chairperson from the protocol committee's membership. The protocol committee shall be charged with developing local protocols for the investigation and prosecution of alleged cases of child abuse.   When a judicial circuit is composed of more than one county, the protocol committee shall determine if it shall be established for each county in the judicial circuit or if it will serve all of the counties within the judicial circuit.       Each of the following individuals, agencies, and entities shall designate a representative to serve on a protocol committee established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section:   The sheriff;   The county department of family and children services;   The district attorney for the judicial circuit;   The presiding juvenile court judge;   The chief magistrate;   The county board of education;   The county mental health organization;   The chief of police of a county in counties which have a county police department;   The chief of police of the largest municipality in the county;   The county public health department; and   The coroner or county medical examiner.     Each of the following individuals, agencies, and entities shall designate a representative to serve on a protocol committee established pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of this Code section:   The sheriff of each county in the judicial circuit;   The county department of family and children services of each county in the judicial circuit;   The district attorney for the judicial circuit;   The presiding juvenile court judge of each county in the judicial circuit;   The chief magistrate of each county in the judicial circuit;   Each board of education in the judicial circuit;   The county mental health organization of each county in the judicial circuit;   The chief of police of each county in the judicial circuit, if any;   The chief of police of the largest municipality in the judicial circuit;   The county public health department of each county in the judicial circuit; and   The coroner or county medical examiner of each county in the judicial circuit.     A representative of a local child advocacy center shall serve on a protocol committee established under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (b) of this Code section if one exists in such location.   A representative of a sexual assault center shall serve on a protocol committee established under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (b) of this Code section if one exists in such location.   In addition to the representatives serving on the protocol committee as provided for in paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subsection, the chief superior court judge shall designate a representative from a local citizen or advocacy group which focuses on child abuse awareness and prevention to serve on such protocol committee.   If any designated agency fails to carry out its duties relating to participation on the protocol committee, the chief superior court judge of the circuit may issue an order requiring the participation of such agency. Failure to comply with such order shall be cause for punishment as for contempt of court.     Each protocol committee chairperson shall be responsible for ensuring that written protocol procedures are followed by all agencies. Such person may be independent of agencies listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Code section. The protocol committee may appoint such additional members as necessary and proper to accomplish the purposes of the protocol committee.   The protocol committee shall adopt a written protocol which shall be filed with the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services and the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, a copy of which shall be furnished to each agency in the county handling the cases of abused children. The protocol shall be a written document outlining in detail the procedures to be used in investigating and prosecuting cases arising from alleged child abuse and the methods to be used in coordinating treatment programs for the perpetrator, the family, and the child. The protocol shall also outline procedures to be used when child abuse occurs in a household where there is violence between past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household. The protocol adopted shall not be inconsistent with the policies and procedures of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services.   The purpose of the protocol shall be to ensure coordination and cooperation between all agencies involved in a child abuse case so as to increase the efficiency of all agencies handling such cases, to minimize the stress created for the allegedly abused child by the legal and investigatory process, and to ensure that more effective treatment is provided for the perpetrator, the family, and the child, including counseling.   Upon completion of the writing of the protocol, the protocol committee shall continue in existence and shall meet at least semiannually for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the protocol and appropriately modifying and updating the same. The protocol committee shall file the updated protocol with the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services and the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children not later than the first day of September each year.   Each protocol committee shall adopt or amend its written protocol to specify the circumstances under which law enforcement officers shall and shall not be required to accompany investigators from the county department of family and children services when these investigators investigate reports of child abuse. In determining when law enforcement officers shall and shall not accompany investigators, the protocol committee shall consider the need to protect the alleged victim and the need to preserve the confidentiality of the report. Each protocol committee shall establish joint work efforts between the law enforcement and investigative agencies in child abuse investigations. The adoption or amendment of the protocol shall also describe measures which can be taken within the county or circuit, as the case may be, to prevent child abuse and shall be filed with and furnished to the same entities with or to which an original protocol is required to be filed or furnished. The protocol shall be further amended to specify procedures to be adopted by the protocol committee to ensure that written protocol procedures are followed.   The protocol committee shall issue a report no later than the first day of July each year. Such report shall evaluate the extent to which investigations of child abuse during the 12 months prior to the report have complied with the protocols of the protocol committee, recommend measures to improve compliance, and describe which measures taken within the county or circuit, as the case may be, to prevent child abuse have been successful. The report shall be transmitted to the county governing authority, the fall term grand jury of the judicial circuit, the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, and the chief superior court judge of the circuit.   Each member of each protocol committee shall receive appropriate training within 12 months after his or her appointment. The Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children shall provide such training.   The protocol committee shall include a written sexual abuse and sexual exploitation section within its protocol which shall be filed with the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services and the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, a copy of which shall be furnished to each agency in the county handling the cases of sexually abused or exploited children. The sexual abuse and sexual exploitation section of the protocol shall outline in detail the procedures to be used in investigating and prosecuting cases arising from alleged sexual abuse and sexual exploitation and the procedures to be followed concerning the obtainment of and payment for sexual assault examinations. The sexual abuse and sexual exploitation section of the protocol shall be consistent with the policies and procedures of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services. The sexual abuse and sexual exploitation section of the protocol is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party in any matter civil or criminal. Such section of the protocol shall not limit or otherwise restrict a prosecuting attorney in the exercise of his or her discretion nor in the exercise of any otherwise lawful litigative prerogatives.     (Code 1981, §19-1-1, enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 1065, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 474, § 1; Code 1981, §19-1-2, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1785, § 1; Code 1981, §19-15-2, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 19; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1695, § 2; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1941, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 19; Ga. L. 1998, p. 609, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 19; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1158, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 395, § .5; Ga. L. 2004, p. 466, § 4; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-2/HB 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 286, § 14/SB 244; Ga. L. 2014, p. 34, § 2-4/SB 365; Ga. L. 2016, p. 773, § 4/HB 905.)    The 2016 amendment,  effective July 1, 2016, substituted "Except as provided in paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of this Code section, each" for "Each" at the beginning of subsection (a); in subsection (b), designated the previously existing provisions as paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2), substituted "After the establishment of a protocol committee, the committee members shall elect a chairperson from the protocol committee's membership" for "Thus established, the protocol committee shall thereafter elect a chairperson from its membership" in the first sentence of paragraph (b)(2), and added paragraph (b)(3); substituted "a protocol committee established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section" for "the protocol committee" in the introductory language of paragraph (c)(1); inserted "presiding" in subparagraph (c)(1)(D); deleted ", which shall designate a physician to serve on the protocol committee" following "public health department" in subparagraph (c)(1)(J); added paragraphs (c)(2) through (c)(4); redesignated former paragraphs (c)(2) and (c)(3) as present paragraphs (c)(5) and (c)(6), respectively; in paragraph (c)(5), in the first sentence, substituted "paragraphs (1) through (4)" for "paragraph" and added "to serve on such protocol committee" at the end; in subsection (d), in the first sentence, deleted "shall elect or appoint a" following "protocol committee" and deleted "who" following "chairperson" and in the second sentence, substituted "person may" for "person can"; substituted "the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children" for "the panel" in middle of the first sentence of subsection (e) and in the last sentence of subsection (i); added the second sentence in subsection (g); inserted "or circuit, as the case may be," in the fourth sentence of subsection (h) and in the second sentence of subsection (i); added "of the circuit" at the end of the last sentence of subsection (i); and, in subsection (k), in the first sentence, substituted "shall include" for "shall adopt" near the beginning and inserted "section within its" near the middle; in the second sentence, substituted "sexual exploitation section of the protocol shall outline" for "sexual exploitation protocol shall be a written document outlining"; deleted the former third sentence, which read: "Each protocol committee shall adopt or amend its written sexual abuse and sexual exploitation protocol."; in the present third sentence, substituted "sexual exploitation section of the protocol" for "sexual exploitation protocol adopted" in the middle; in the present fourth sentence, substituted "The sexual abuse" for "A sexual abuse" and inserted "section of the" in the present fourth and fifth sentences.   Cross references.   - Sexual assault protocol, T. 15, C. 24.   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2014, p. 34, § 2-1/SB 365, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This part shall be known and may be cited as the 'Journey Ann Cowart Act.'"   Ga. L. 2014, p. 34, § 2-9/SB 365, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide for transparency relative to investigations involving child abuse and child fatalities in order to best protect the children of this state. The General Assembly finds that more disclosure of information may be necessary when a child is deceased. The General Assembly intends that agencies and departments of this state share data in order to conduct research for the purpose of preventing child fatalities in this state."   Law reviews.   - For article on the 2014 amendment of this Code section, see 31 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 25 (2014)   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Due process rights of abused child.    - Protocol mandated by O.C.G.A. § 19-15-2 vests abused children with an entitlement to the procedures and protection therein, and an abused child may not be deprived of these procedures and protection without procedural due process. Powell v. Department of Human Resources, 918 F. Supp. 1575 (S.D. Ga. 1996), aff'd, 114 F.3d 1074 (11th Cir. 1997).