Constitutionality.

- Because community service boards are agencies or departments of the state, accordingly, the legislature acted unconstitutionally when the legislature ignored Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX(e) and the express terms of the Georgia Tort Claims Act by enacting O.C.G.A. § 37-2-11.1(c)(1) so as to denominate these newly-created state agencies or departments as unclassified public entities to be accorded the same immunity as counties. Youngblood v. Gwinnett Rockdale Newton Cmty. Serv. Bd., 273 Ga. 715, 545 S.E.2d 875 (2001).

Issue as to employee's status for immunity.

- When, in a personal injury action against an employee of a community service board as an individual, there was a factual issue as to the employment status, if it was decided that the employee was not a state employee but was a board employee at the time of the collision, then it was necessary to resolve whether the employee's actions arose from the use of a motor vehicle covered by an insurance policy. Horton v. Whitaker, 238 Ga. App. 312, 518 S.E.2d 712 (1999).

Entitlement to immunity.

- Community service board and county mental retardation center were provided immunity pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 37-2-11.1(c)(2). Washington v. Department of Human Resources, 241 Ga. App. 319, 526 S.E.2d 354 (1999).

Employees of a county mental retardation center were not entitled to official immunity for ministerial acts performed in connection with their official duties. Washington v. Department of Human Resources, 241 Ga. App. 319, 526 S.E.2d 354 (1999).

Considering the public purpose for which the board was created, a community service board is a "state department or agency" entitled to raise the defense of sovereign immunity under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX. Youngblood v. Gwinnett Rockdale Newton Cmty. Serv. Bd., 273 Ga. 715, 545 S.E.2d 875 (2001).

Community service board (CSB) was not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity against a former employee's Americans with Disabilities Act claims because: (1) for the purpose of litigation, the Georgia General Assembly, in O.C.G.A. § 37-2-11.1(c)(1) defined a CSB as being akin to a county, which was not an arm of the state entitled to immunity; and (2) when it came to debt and liability, a CSB was autonomous pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6(a); although other factors cut in favor of CSB entitlement to Eleventh Amendment immunity, including the state's exercise of some control over a CSB pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 37-2-10(b) and a CSB partial state funding, such factors were afforded less weight by the court. Johnson v. Ogeechee Behavioral Health Servs., 479 F. Supp. 2d 1357 (S.D. Ga. 2007).

Because O.C.G.A. § 37-2-11.1 stated community service boards (CSB) were not agencies of the state or any specific county and that the boards had the same immunity as counties and counties were not arms of the state and did not have Eleventh Amendment immunity, the defendant, a CSB former employer, was not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity on a plaintiff former employee's discrimination claim. Peery v. Serenity Behavioral Health Sys., F. Supp. 2d (S.D. Ga. May 4, 2009).

Representation of community board by legislator attorney.

- There is no per se conflict of interest for an attorney who serves in the General Assembly to represent and provide legal services to a community service board as defined in O.C.G.A. § 37-2-11.1. 1995 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U95-26.