O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 38-3-35 (2019)

(See Editor’s notes.) Immunity of state and political subdivisions; of emergency management workers

✓ 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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(a) Neither the state nor any political subdivision of the state, nor the agents or representatives of the state or any political subdivision thereof, shall be liable for personal injury or property damage sustained by any person appointed or acting as a volunteer emergency management worker or member of any agency engaged in emergency management activity. The foregoing shall not affect the right of any person to receive benefits or compensation to which he might otherwise be entitled under Chapter 9 of Title 34, Code Section 38-3-30, any pension law, or any act of Congress.

(b) Neither the state nor any political subdivision of the state nor, except in cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith, the employees, agents, or representatives of the state or any political subdivision thereof, nor any volunteer or auxiliary emergency management worker or member of any agency engaged in any emergency management activity complying with or reasonably attempting to comply with Articles 1 through 3 of this chapter; or any order, rule, or regulation promulgated pursuant to Articles 1 through 3 of this chapter, or pursuant to any ordinance relating to precautionary measures enacted by any political provisions of Articles 1 through 3 of this chapter, or pursuant to any ordinance relating to precautionary measures enacted by any political subdivision of the state shall be liable for the death of or the injury to person or for damage to property as a result of any such activity.

History

Ga. L. 1951, p. 224, § 17; Ga. L. 1973, p. 74, § 8; Ga. L. 1981, p. 389, § 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 38.

Annotations

Cross references. - Liability of law enforcement officers performing duties at scenes of emergencies, § 35-1-7. Liability of members of fire departments for acts

performed while fighting fires or performed at scenes of emergencies, § 51-1-30. Editor’s notes. - For application of this statute in 2020, see Executive Orders 04.14.20.01, 04.20.20.01, and 05.12.20.02.

RESEARCH REFERENCES C.J.S. - 81A C.J.S., States, § 239. ALR. - Remedy available against invalid judgment in favor of United States,

state, or other governmental unit immune to suit, 163 A.L.R. 244. Validity and construction of legislation

conferring personal immunity on public officers or employees for acts in course of duty, 163 A.L.R. 1435.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 2022–2026 · leading case: Resurgens, LLC v. Frances L. Ervin (Ga. Ct. App. 2023).

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Resurgens, LLC v. Frances L. Ervin (Ga. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 27× “Relevant to the issues on appeal,1 the defendants argued that they were entitled to immunity from suit based on OCGA § 38-3-35 (the statute covering “immunity from liability of agencies and emergency management workers”).”

Angie Howard v. Coffee Reg'l Med. Ctr., Inc. (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 18× “OCGA § 38-3-35 (b) (emphasis supplied). The hospital claims immunity under this provision, arguing it fits the definition of “auxiliary emergency management worker.”

Latoya Bray v. Stormie Crockford Watkins (Ga. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 6× “1 After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion as to all the plaintiffs’ claims, finding that Watkins owed no actionable duty to the plaintiffs under the public duty doctrine, that she was entitled to official immunity, that there was no evidence of proximate cause, and…”

Latoya Bray v. Stormie Crockford Watkins (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 5× “Bray also argues that, because the statutes providing immunity from liability for emergency management and 911 officers have exceptions for circumstances such as willful misconduct or bad faith, see OCGA § 38-3-35 (b) & OCGA § 46-5-131 (a), it follows that such officers can be…”

Arbor Mgmt. Servs., LLC v. Carlos Hendrix (Ga. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “”18 Under OCGA § 38-3-35 (b), emergency management activities that are “reasonably attempting to comply with” emergency orders cannot serve as a basis for liability for death or personal injury “except in cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith.”

James H. Secrist & Dawn Secrist v. Rush Med. Found. d/b/a Rush Med. Grp., P.A. d/b/a Ocshner Rush, Rush Med. Grp., P.A., Cardiovascular Inst. of the South, Andrew Gowdey, M.D., Patrick Kirkland, M.D. & Bret Boes, M.D. (Miss. 2026). · cites it 2× “Thus, although [defendant physician] may have been an “auxiliary emergency management worker” under the Executive Order and OCGA § 38-3-35, unless he can show that he was also “engaged in any emergency management activity” when performing the actions that allegedly led to…”

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.