GA Code § 42-5-57 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 42 - Penal Institutions|Chapter 5 - Correctional Institutions of State and Counties|Article 3 - Conditions of Detention Generally|§ 42-5-57. Institution of Rehabilitation Programs; Provision of Opportunities for Educational, Religious, and Recreational Activities

  The board, acting alone or in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, or the several state, local, and federal agencies concerned therewith shall be authorized to institute a program of rehabilitation, which may include academic, industrial, mechanical, agricultural, and vocational training, within the confines of a penal institution.   The board, acting alone or in cooperation with the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council, shall be authorized to institute a program of rehabilitation which includes training following the Georgia Fire Academy curriculum within the confines of a penal institution.   The board, acting alone or in cooperation with the Department of Public Health, shall be authorized to institute a program of rehabilitation which includes training for emergency medical services personnel as such term is defined in Code Section 31-11-49 within the confines of a penal institution.   The department, in institutions under its control and supervision, shall give the inmates opportunity for reasonable educational, religious, and recreational activities where practicable.    (Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 23; Ga. L. 1964, p. 734, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 1399, § 4; Ga. L. 2021, p. 782, § 9/SB 46.)    The 2021 amendment,  effective May 10, 2021, added subsections (b) and (c), and redesignated former subsection (b) as present subsection (d).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Application to state prisoners.    - Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, §§ 11 and 23 (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.    Cost of instituting and maintaining academic programs  in conjunction with the Board of Regents is a legal expenditure for the Board of Offender Rehabilitation (Corrections). 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-267.   Prison authorities' discretion to regulate religious activities.   - Department of Offender Rehabilitation (Corrections) should not deny permission to all Jehovah's Witnesses' ministers to visit the prisons or to conduct services therein; however, the denial of permission in individual instances, in the discretion of prison authorities, would appear to be lawful as a valid exercise of the state's power to regulate religious activities for the safety and welfare of the state's citizens. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-270.   College attendance outside prison confines.   - Provisions of this section are not sufficiently broad to include or permit inmates who may be qualified to attend college outside the confines of a state prison institution. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-119.   Development of service-type industrial programs.   - Board of Corrections is authorized to develop service-type industrial programs such as furniture refinishing, but such programs may not be developed by the Georgia Prison Industries Administration (now Georgia Correctional Industries Administration). 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-156.    Criterion for judging whether work performed by prisoner is prohibited  is not whether the articles on which prisoner is working are publicly or privately owned; the real test is whether the transaction was for a good faith purpose rather than a subterfuge designed to benefit the private owner. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-452.   Use of prison store profits.   - Board of Corrections can use profits generated in a prison store to offset the expense of employing an athletic director to direct athletic activities of inmates by withdrawing such sums from the prison athletic fund and depositing the funds in the treasury of the Board of Corrections. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-314.   RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 60 Am. Jur. 2d, Penal and Correctional Institutions, §§ 32, 33, 36-45, 89, 90.   C.J.S.   - 72 C.J.S., Prisons and Rights of Prisoners, §§ 59, 69, 89-92.   ALR.    - Constitutionality of statutes in relation to treatment or discipline of convicts, 50 A.L.R. 104.   Provision of religious facilities for prisoners, 12 A.L.R.3d 1276.