TITLE 19 DOMESTIC RELATIONS

Section 13. Family Violence, 19-13-1 through 19-13-56.

ARTICLE 3 STATE COMMISSION ON FAMILY VIOLENCE

19-13-32. Membership; terms; filling of vacancies; officers.

1. The State Commission on Family Violence shall consist of 37 members:
   1. Three ex officio members shall be the director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services, the director of Women's Health Services in the Department of Public Health, and the Attorney General;
   2. Three members shall be members of the House of Representatives and shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
   3. Three members shall be members of the Senate and shall be appointed by the President of the Senate;
   4. The remaining members shall be appointed by the Governor as follows:
      1. One judge from each judicial administrative district;
      2. Three advocates for victims of family violence, taking into account recommendations made by groups which have addressed the problem of family violence;
      3. One person with expertise and interest regarding family violence involving persons who are 60 years of age or older;
      4. One person with expertise and interest regarding family violence involving children; and
      5. One representative from each of the following:
         1. The Administrative Office of the Courts;
         2. The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council;
         3. The Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police;
         4. The District Attorneys Association of Georgia;
         5. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles;
         6. The Department of Community Supervision;
         7. The Georgia Sheriffs' Association;
         8. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council;
         9. The Solicitors Association of Georgia;
         10. The legal aid community;
         11. The academic community;
         12. A family violence intervention program, as such term is defined in Code Section 19-13-10; and
         13. A former victim of family violence.
2. The Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate shall appoint individuals who are specially qualified to serve on the commission by reason of their experience and knowledge of family violence issues.
3. Members serving on July 1, 2017, and persons appointed to complete the unexpired terms of members serving shall complete the terms for which they were appointed. Thereafter, each member shall be appointed for a term of three years, and no member shall serve more than two consecutive terms unless he or she is serving in an ex officio capacity. The letter of appointment shall set out the term for which each member is appointed. Each member shall serve until the date his or her successor is appointed. A commission member shall be eligible to serve so long as he or she retains his or her status as the designation for which he or she was appointed, but a vacancy shall be created by operation of law when he or she no longer has such designation. All vacancies shall be filled by the appointing official for the unexpired term. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy may serve an additional two consecutive terms.
4. The commission shall elect a chairperson, vice chairperson, and a secretary from among its members for terms of three years, and any member shall be eligible for successive election to such office by the commission.
5. Legislative members of the commission shall receive the allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8. Citizen members shall receive a daily expense allowance in the amount specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized for state employees. Members of the commission who are state officials, other than legislative members, or state employees shall receive no compensation for their services on the commission, but they shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties as members of the commission in the same manner as they are reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as state officials or state employees. The funds necessary for the reimbursement of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative members, and state employees shall come from funds appropriated or otherwise available to their respective departments.

(Code 1981, §19-13-32, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 1810, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1186, § 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 449, § 2; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-17/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 6-1/HB 214; Ga. L. 2012, p. 200, § 1/HB 733; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-48/HB 310; Ga. L. 2017, p. 713, § 1/HB 303.)

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, substituted "victims of family violence, taking into account recommendations made" for "battered women recommended" in subparagraph (a)(4)(B); substituted "A family violence intervention program, as such term is defined in Code Section 19-13-10" for "Men Stopping Violence" in division (a)(4)(E)(xii); substituted "family" for "domestic" in division (a)(4)(E)(xiii); rewrote subsection (c); substituted "three years" for "two years" in the middle of subsection (d); and added subsection (e).