O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 36-85-1 (2019)

Definitions

✓ 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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As used in this chapter, the term: (1) ‘‘Administrator’’ means any person who administers a group self-insurance fund other than the interlocal risk management agency. (2) ‘‘Commissioner’’ means the Commissioner of Insurance. (3) ‘‘County’’ means any county of the State of Georgia. Such term shall include any public authority, commission, board, or similar agency which is created by local or general Act of the General Assembly and which carries out its functions on a county-wide basis

or wholly within the unincorporated area of a county. The term shall also include any such body which is created or activated by a resolution or ordinance of the governing body of the county individually or jointly with other political subdivisions of the state. (4) ‘‘General liability’’ means liability for bodily injury, death, or damage to property owned by others to which a municipality or county may be subject either directly or by reason of liability arising out of an act, error, or omission of its employee, agent, or officer in the course and scope of employment. (5) ‘‘Governing authority’’ means the body which exercises the legislative functions of the municipality or county. (6) ‘‘Group self-insurance fund’’ or ‘‘fund’’ means a pool of public moneys established by an interlocal risk management agency from contributions of its members in order to pool the risks of accident, disability, supplemental medical, general liability, motor vehicle liability, property damage, or any combination of such risks. (7) ‘‘Interlocal risk management agency’’ or ‘‘agency’’ means an association formed by municipalities or counties by the execution of an intergovernmental contract for the development and administration of an interlocal risk management program and one or more group self-insurance funds. (8) ‘‘Interlocal risk management program’’ means a plan and activities carried out under such plan by an interlocal risk management agency to reduce risk of loss on account of accident, disability, supplemental medical, general liability, motor vehicle liability, or property damage, including safety engineering and other loss prevention and control techniques, and to administer one or more group self-insurance funds, including the processing and defense of claims brought against members of the agency. (9) ‘‘Motor vehicle liability’’ means liability to which a municipality or county may be subject either directly or by reason of liability arising out of the use of a motor vehicle by its employee, agent, or officer in the course and scope of employment. Said term shall also include loss on account of property damage to motor vehicles. (10) ‘‘Municipality’’ means a municipal corporation of the State of Georgia. Such term shall include any public authority, commission, board, or similar agency which is created by general or local Act of the General Assembly and which carries out its functions wholly or partly within the boundaries of the municipality. The term shall also include such bodies which are created or activated by an ordinance or resolution of the governing body of the municipality individually or jointly with other political subdivisions of the state. The term shall

also include any independent school system of this state which elects to participate in the interlocal risk management agency composed of municipalities; provided, however, such independent school system must have a full-time equivalent student count of at least 2,800 in order to elect to become a member of the interlocal risk management agency composed of municipalities. (11) ‘‘Property damage’’ means loss to which a municipality or county may be subject by reason of physical damage or destruction to real or personal property owned or leased by such municipality or county.

History

Code 1981, § 36-85-1, enacted by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1496, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1454, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 717, § 2; Ga. L. 2017, p. 336, § 2/HB 146; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 36/SB 52. The 2017 amendment, effective January 1, 2018, inserted ‘‘accident, disability, supplemental medical,’’ in the middle of paragraphs (6) and (8). The 2019 amendment, effective May

12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted ‘‘composed of municipalities’’ for ‘‘comprised of municipalities’’ in two places in the last sentence of paragraph (10).

Annotations

Law reviews. - For annual survey of law of torts, see 44 Mercer L. Rev. 375 (1992). For annual survey of local government law, see 58 Mercer L. Rev. 267 (2006).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Respondeat superior principles used to analyze coverage question. - Respondeat superior principles were used to analyze a coverage question under a Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency agreement as the statutory language and coverage language was similar to that used by Georgia courts in applying the theory of respondeat superior. Ga. Interlocal Risk Mgmt. Agency v. Godfrey, 273 Ga. App. 77, 614 S.E.2d 201 (2005). Police trainee not ‘‘member.’’ - Police trainee was not covered by a Georgia

Interlocal Risk Management Agency agreement when the trainee obtained a police car to drive to work the next day, used the car to stop a victim, and robbed and murdered the victim for the purely personal reason of obtaining money to pay a drug dealer. Ga. Interlocal Risk Mgmt. Agency v. Godfrey, 273 Ga. App. 77, 614 S.E.2d 201 (2005). Cited in CSX Transp., Inc. v. City of Garden City, 196 F. Supp. 2d 1288 (S.D. Ga. 2002).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 20 cases, 1991–2016 · leading case: Hiers v. City of Barwick, 414 S.E.2d 647 (Ga. 1992).

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Hiers v. City of Barwick, 414 S.E.2d 647 (Ga. 1992). · cites it 12× “At the time of the accident the City was a member of the Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency (GIRMA), created pursuant to OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq. The City paid a premium of $8,597 to GIRMA in return for liability coverage of $500,000 per occurrence.”

Godfrey v. Georgia Interlocal Risk Mgmt. Agency, 719 S.E.2d 412 (Ga. 2011). · cites it 8× “The City of Newnan had a Member Coverage Agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency (“GIRMA”), established under OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq. Godfrey and his wife sued Henderson in tort, and served a copy of the complaint on GIRMA to notify GIRMA…”

Gilbert v. Richardson, 452 S.E.2d 476 (Ga. 1994). · cites it 2× “The question then becomes whether Walker County’s purchase of a GIRMA coverage agreement as authorized by OCGA §§ 36-85-1 to 36-85-20 constitutes the purchase of liability insurance.”

Georgia Interlocal Risk Mgmt. Agency v. Godfrey, 614 S.E.2d 201 (Ga. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 8× “GIRMA is a statutory association formed by municipalities pursuant to OCGA§ 36-85-1 et seq. 3 Although not an insurance company or “insurer” governed by Title 33 of the Georgia Code, 4 GIRMA provides a mechanism for municipalities to pool their general liability, motor vehicle…”

Weaver v. City of Statesboro, 653 S.E.2d 765 (Ga. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 4× “OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq. The Supreme Court of Georgia has held that such insurance waives a city’s sovereign immunity to the extent of the insurance (despite the provisions of *36 OCGA§ 36-85-20, which statute the Court declared unconstitutional from its inception).”

CSX Transp., Inc. v. City of Garden City, 588 S.E.2d 688 (Ga. 2003). · cites it 2× “We have held that the purchase of a GIRMA coverage agreement as authorized by OCGA §§ 36-85-1 to 36-85-20 constitutes the purchase of liability insurance.”

Owens v. City of Greenville, 722 S.E.2d 755 (Ga. 2012). · cites it 2× “And, this Court has consistently held that the purchase of a GIRMA coverage agreement as authorized by OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq., constitutes the purchase of liability insurance for purposes of the waiver of sovereign immunity, and does so to the extent of the liability coverage…”

Sinkfield v. Pike, 411 S.E.2d 889 (Ga. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 4× “Dudley Crosson, the City Manager, averred that the City carried no motor vehicle liability insurance but did participate in a Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency (GIRMA) as authorized by OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq.”

City of Tybee Island v. Harrod, 788 S.E.2d 122 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “We recognize that “this Court has consistently held that the purchase of a GIRMA coverage agreement as authorized by OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq., constitutes the purchase of liability insurance for purposes of the waiver of sovereign immunity, and does so to the extent of the…”

Georgia Interlocal Risk Mgmt. Agency v. Godfrey, 699 S.E.2d 377 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 6× “” OCGA § 36-85-1 (7). Chapter 85 of Title 36 of the Georgia Code authorizes municipalities and counties to jointly purchase insurance or jointly operate self-insurance programs.”

CSX Transp., Inc. v. City of Garden City, 391 F. Supp. 2d 1234 (S.D. Ga. 2005). · cites it 4× “We have held that the purchase of a GIRMA coverage agreement as authorized by OCGA §§ 36-85-1 to 36-85-20 constitutes the purchase of liability insurance.”

McLemore v. City Council of Augusta, 443 S.E.2d 505 (Ga. Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 2× “In Hiers , the city participated in the Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency (GIRMA), which was created pursuant to OCGA § 36-85-1 et seq. Our Supreme Court held that even though the act creating the GIRMA provided that participation in that agency did not constitute a…”

Show all 20 citing cases →

— 36-85-1(10) — 1 case

CSX Transp., Inc. v. City of Garden City, Georgia, 196 F. Supp. 2d 1288 (S.D. Ga. 2002).

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.