O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-991 (2019)

Liability insurance for performance of duties authorized; actions against insurers

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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In addition to other compensation paid to members of the State Board of Education, the State School Superintendent, and employees of the state board, and to members of boards of education, school superintendents, teachers, principals, officers, and employees of boards of control of cooperative educational service agencies, and other administrators and employees of county and other local public school systems, the state board, the boards of control of cooperative educational service agencies, and the several boards of education of counties, cities, and independent school systems, whenever created, are authorized, in their discretion, to purchase policies of liability insurance or contracts of indemnity insuring or indemnifying the members of the state board, State School Superintendent, employees of the state board, officers and employees of boards of control of cooperative educational service agencies, and the members of the boards of education, superintendents, teachers, principals, and other administrators and employees against damages arising out of the performance of their duties or in any way connected therewith, whether based upon negligence, violation of contract rights, or violation of civil, constitutional, common-law, or other statutory rights, whether state, federal, or both. Such boards may expend state, county, federal, and local funds, or any combination thereof, for such purposes. The amount of such insurance or indemnity shall be in the discretion of the respective board. No action shall be maintained against the person or company issuing such insurance or contracting for such indemnity until final judgment has first been entered against the individual covered by such policy or contract.

History

Ga. L. 1973, p. 1267, § 2; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1181, § 1; Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 37/HB 24.

Annotations

Cross references. Liability insurance, § 24-4-411. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 101/HB 24, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the 2011 amendment to this

Code section shall apply to any motion made or hearing or trial commenced on or after January 1, 2013. Law reviews. For article, “Evidence,” see 27 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 1 (2011). For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2011).

ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUC.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Sovereign immunity not waived by purchase of insurance. - In an action against a school board and school principal for injuries to a student who tripped and fell through a glass door at the school entrance, official immunity of the principal was not waived by the mere existence of a liability insurance policy. Davis v. Dublin City Bd. of Educ., 219 Ga. App. 121, 464 S.E.2d 251, 1995 Ga. App. LEXIS 968 (1995), cert. denied, No. S96C0449, 1996 Ga. LEXIS 443 (Ga. Feb. 16, 1996).

Sovereign immunity waived to extent of insurance coverage. - In regard to a personal injury action arising from an accident involving a school bus, the school district waived sovereign immunity to the extent the district was covered by liability insurance. Coffee County Sch. Dist. v. King, 229 Ga. App. 143, 493 S.E.2d 563, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 1541 (1997).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Local board cannot establish program of self-insurance for itself. - While a local board of education could establish a program of self-insurance to cover the deductible portion of any liability imposed upon the board’s officers or

employees, the board could not do so for itself and would be limited to the protection expressly authorized by Ga. L. 1973, p. 1267, § 2 or Ga. L. 1973, p. 1267, § 4. 1977 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 77-61.

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, §§ 134, 351 et seq., 480. 68 Am. Jur. 2d, Schools, §§ 134, 135. C.J.S. 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, § 570. ALR. Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for injuries caused by acts of fellow students, 36 A.L.R.3d 330. Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for accidents occurring in physical education classes, 36 A.L.R.3d 361. Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for injuries resulting from lack or insufficiency of supervision, 38 A.L.R.3d 830. Validity and construction of statute authorizing or requiring governmental unit to procure liability insurance covering public officers or employees for liability arising out of performance of public duties, 71 A.L.R.3d 6.

Personal liability of public school executive or administrative officer in negligence action for personal injury or death of student, 35 A.L.R.4th 272. Personal liability in negligence action of public school employee, other than teacher or executive or administrative officer, for personal injury or death of student, 35 A.L.R.4th 328. Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for accidents occurring in physical education classes, 66 A.L.R.5th 1. Tort liability of schools and institutions of higher learning for personal injury suffered during school field trip, 68 A.L.R.5th 519. Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for accidents occurring during school athletic events, 68 A.L.R.5th 663. Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for injury to student walking to or from school, 72 A.L.R.5th 469.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases, 1986–2013 · leading case: Coffee Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. Snipes, 454 S.E.2d 149 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995).
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Coffee Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. Snipes, 454 S.E.2d 149 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 4× “See Gilbert, supra; OCGA § 20-2-991. Despite the fact that the 1991 amendment eliminated the constitutional provision that sovereign immunity was waived to the extent of liability insurance protection, the Supreme Court in Gilbert, supra, concluded that the county’s purchase of…”
Coffee Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. King, 493 S.E.2d 563 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 8× “Thus, the pertinent statutes to our inquiry are OCGA § 33-24-51 and the statutes regarding the liability of school boards, OCGA §§ 20-2-991 and 20-2-1090. OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) waives the sovereign immunity of a county as to tort claims which arise out of the alleged negligent use…”
Gamble v. Ware Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 561 S.E.2d 837 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “at 800-801 ; see also OCGA § 20-2-992 (local board of education does not waive immunity by obtaining liability insurance for school officials and employees under OCGA § 20-2-991). 24 See Crisp County, supra at 801; OCGA § 50-21-22 (5).”
Crisp Cnty. Sch. Sys. v. Brown, 487 S.E.2d 512 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 2× “We cannot find and appellants do not cite us to any promulgated legislative act which specifically provides that the sovereign immunity of school systems has been waived and the extent of such waiver.”
Davis v. Dublin City Bd. of Educ., 464 S.E.2d 251 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “Moreover, “the provisions of OCGA § 20-2-991 concerning the purchase of liability insurance covering the school district do not provide for a waiver of sovereign immunity as contemplated by the 1991 amendment.”
Holloway v. Rogers, 351 S.E.2d 240 (Ga. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 2× “Therefore even if it was shown that liability insurance had been procured pursuant to OCGA § 20-2-991, a defense of sovereign immunity is still available as to acts of even gross negligence.”
Peach Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. Austin, 745 S.E.2d 293 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “Moreover, the provisions of OCGA § 20-2-991, authorizing the purchase of liability insurance by the board of control or education of various school systems and related educational institutions, do not provide for a waiver of sovereign immunity as contemplated by the 1991…”
Seay v. Cleveland, 493 S.E.2d 30 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 2× “, supra at 295 (finding that OCGA § 20-2-991, concerning the purchase of general liability insurance by a school district, does not provide for a waiver of sovereign immunity as contemplated by the 1991 amendment).”
Peach Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. Donna M. Austin (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “We cannot find and appellant[] do[es] not cite us to any promulgated legislative act which specifically provides that the sovereign immunity of school systems has been waived and the extent of such waiver.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.