O.C.G.A. § 31-7-252 (2019)

Accompanying any application for a new license for a facility, the applicant shall furnish to the department a records check application and a preliminary records check application for the director of such facility. In lieu of such records check applications, the applicant may submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, that within the immediately preceding 12 months the director received a satisfactory fingerprint records check determination. The department shall contract either with GCIC or other appropriate law enforcement agencies which have access to GCIC information to perform itself or have those agencies perform for the department a preliminary records check for each records check application submitted thereto by the department; and the department shall make a written determination based upon that records check.