Opinions

The documentation requirement in O.C.G.A. § 35 8 22, as amended, does not prevent a governmental unit from seeking reimbursement after July 1, 2003, for the training of a peace officer hired before July 1, 2003.

Absent explicit statutory provisions to the contrary, the Merit System Act does not generally authorize the State Personnel Board or the commissioner to promulgate rules or adopt policies that would be binding on agencies or departments that are not covered, nor can such rules or policies be promulgated pursuant to a gubernatorial executive order.

O.C.G.A. § 47‑20‑50(a), which requires generally that retirement bills be concurrently funded, and section 2 of 2006 Ga. Laws 117, which requires a specific determination of concurrent funding regarding O.C.G.A. § 47‑17‑71 (Supp. 2006), do not repeal O.C.G.A. § 47‑17‑71 (Supp. 2006), which allows for the grant of creditable service to peace officers for service prior to January 1, 1976, if the officer was denied membership to the Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund because of race or ethnicity.

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 43-9-12.1, a chiropractor, duly licensed and properly practicing in the state of Georgia, can refer a patient for X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging if the referral is needed to determine appropriate chiropractic care or for treatment for or evaluation of conditions which are outside the scope of practice of the chiropractor, assuming the referral is otherwise prudent and proper. This opinion supersedes 1993 Op. Atty Gen. 93-11.

Updating of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file fingerprints.

The 2004 amendment to O.C.G.A. § 36‑70‑2(5.2)[1] removes any sheriff, clerk of the superior court, judge of the probate court, or tax commissioner or the office, personnel, or services provided by such elected officials from the definition of “local government” with the result that those officials and the costs of their offices are not to be included in the deliberations of local government officials when formulating agreements between counties and cities regarding the delivery of local government services.

The Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel and local child fatality review committees are public health authorities as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act by the Department of Health and Human Services; they are authorized by law to receive public health information, including reports of child abuse and neglect, in order to carry out their statutory duties; and they are thereby authorized to obtain protected health information from covered entities under the Act’s public health exception.

Members of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia hold fiduciary positions of trust under Georgia law, and business transactions between any Regent and the University System are prohibited absent a statutory exception permitting the transaction, and then only if there is no common law conflict creating a breach of their constitutional fiduciary duty.

The Georgia Public Service Commission has authority over mobile and wireless providers of telecommunications services to the extent that the laws it administers apply to “telecommunications companies” as defined in O.C.G.A. §§ 46‑5‑162(17) (Supp. 2003) and 46-5-181 (Supp. 2003) and do not exempt mobile or wireless providers; the Georgia Public Service Commission also has authority over “phone-to-phone” internet protocol telephony as this service is described by the FCC, and over cable-based broadband service to the extent that the laws it administers apply to “telecommunications companies” as defined in O.C.G.A. §§ 46‑5‑162(17) (Supp. 2003) and 46-5-181 (Supp. 2003).