TITLE 20 EDUCATION

Section 2. Elementary and Secondary Education, 20-2-1 through 20-2-2180.

ARTICLE 6 QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION

20-2-317. Inappropriate means of encouraging and rewarding student athletes; penalty; notice to students.

1. As used in this Code section, the term:
   1. "Immediate family" means a student-athlete's spouse, child, parent, stepparent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, and first cousin and the spouses and guardians of any such individuals.
   2. "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, firm, or any other legal or commercial entity.
   3. "Student-athlete" means a student at any public or private institution of postsecondary education in this state or a student residing in this state who has applied, is eligible to apply, or may be eligible to apply in the future to a public or private institution of postsecondary education who engages in, is eligible to engage in, or may be eligible to engage in any intercollegiate sporting event, contest, exhibition, or program.
   4. "Transaction" means any action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons for the sale or exchange of any property or services.
2. Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, no person shall give, offer, promise, or attempt to give any money or other thing of value to a student-athlete or member of a student-athlete's immediate family:
   1. To induce, encourage, or reward the student-athlete's application, enrollment, or attendance at a public or private institution of postsecondary education in order to have the student-athlete participate in intercollegiate sporting events, contests, exhibitions, or programs at that institution; or
   2. To induce, encourage, or reward the student-athlete's participation in an intercollegiate sporting event, contest, exhibition, or program.
3. This Code section shall not apply to:
   1. Any public or private institution of postsecondary education or to any officer or employee of such institution when the institution or officer or employee of such institution is acting in accordance with an official written policy of such institution which is in compliance with the bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association;
   2. Any intercollegiate athletic awards approved or administered by the student-athlete's institution;
   3. Grants-in-aid or other full or partial scholarships awarded to a student-athlete or administered by an institution of postsecondary education;
   4. Members of the student-athlete's immediate family; and
   5. Money or things of value given by a person to a student-athlete or the immediate family of a student-athlete that do not exceed $250.00 in value in the aggregate on an annual basis.
4. Any person that violates the provisions of subsection (b) or (b.1) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
5. Each public and private high school in this state shall advise in writing at the beginning of each sports season each student who participates in any athletic program sponsored by the school of the provisions of this Code section and shall provide each student with information concerning the effect of receiving money or other things of value on the student's future eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to intermural athletic programs at such schools.

(b.1)No person shall enter into or solicit directly or through an agent a transaction with a student-athlete if such person has knowledge that the transaction would likely be cause for the student-athlete to permanently or temporarily lose athletic scholarship eligibility, the ability to participate on an intercollegiate athletic team, or the ability to participate in one or more intercollegiate sporting competitions as sanctioned by a national association for the promotion and regulation of intercollegiate athletics, by an athletic conference or other sanctioning body, or by the institution of postsecondary education itself as a reasonable self-imposed disciplinary action taken by such institution to mitigate sanctions likely to be imposed by such organizations as a result of such transaction or as a violation of such institution's own rules.

(Code 1981, §20-2-317, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 707, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 60, § 20/HB 95; Ga. L. 2015, p. 813, § 1/HB 3.)

The 2015 amendment, effective May 6, 2015, in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(3), substituted "means" for "shall mean"; added paragraph (a)(4); added subsection (b.1); and, inserted "or (b.1)" in subsection (d).