O.C.G.A.
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.
(a) There is created the position of commissioner of corrections. The commissioner shall be the chief administrative officer of the department. Subject to the general policy established by the board, the commissioner shall supervise, direct, account for, organize, plan, administer, and execute the functions vested in the department by this title. (b) The commissioner shall be appointed by and shall serve at the pleasure of the board. Beginning July 1, 1999, the salary of the commissioner shall be set by the Governor and the expenses and allowances of the commissioner shall be as set by statute.
History
Ga. L. 1972, p. 1069, § 11; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1647, § 2; Ga. L. 1985, p. 283, § 1; Ga.
L. 1999, p. 910, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 1213, § 3.
Annotations
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Duty to maintain records of tort actions. - Commissioner of offender rehabilitation (corrections) should maintain any records related to possible tort action for at least two years after a possible tort occurs. 1972 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 72-75. Penal institution in Georgia is any facility used to punish criminal offenders. 1980 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 80-121.
Designation of places for carrying out execution. - Present law limits the place of execution only to penal institutions other than the old prison farm in Baldwin County. The commissioner is authorized to designate any such penal institution as the place for carrying out an execution. 1980 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 80-121.
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 1 etc.
C.J.S. 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, §§ 318, 322 et seq.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
9
cases (
4 in the last 5 years), 2012–2025 · leading case:
Hill v. Owens, 738 S.E.2d 56 (Ga. 2013).
Hill v. Owens, 738 S.E.2d 56 (Ga. 2013).
· cites it 2× “OCGA § 42-2-6 (a) (emphasis supplied). See also OCGA § 42-2-11 (a) (“The board shall establish the general policy to be followed by the department____”).”
Benning v. Georgia, 845 F. Supp. 2d 1372 (M.D. Ga. 2012).
· cites it 2× “See O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6 and O.C.G.A. § 42-2-11.”
Toomer v. Adams (M.D. Ga. 2023).
· cites it 2× “O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6. Thus, the Commissioner is the proper Respondent in this action.”
Sanders v. Dozier (S.D. Ga. 2019).
· cites it 2× “§ 2242 , an application for a writ of habeas corpus shall allege the name of the person having custody over Petitioner; however, Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts states that “the petition must name as respondent the state…”
Herrington v. Laughlin (S.D. Ga. 2020).
· cites it 2× “See O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6. Accordingly, the Court DIRECTS the CLERK to add Timothy Ward, Commissioner, Department of Corrections, as a Respondent.”
Brinson v. Hall (S.D. Ga. 2020).
· cites it 2× “See O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6 (identifying Commissioner as officer in charge of Georgia’s penal institutions); Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States 2014.”
Guyton v. Adams (S.D. Ga. 2023).
· cites it 2× “See O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6. Accordingly, the Court DIRECTS the CLERK to update the docket in accordance with the above caption showing the substitution of Tyrone Oliver, Commissioner, Department of Corrections, as the proper Respondent.”
Jackson v. Warden Wheeler Corr. Facility (S.D. Ga. 2024).
· cites it 2× “June 28, 2023) (explaining Commissioner is proper Respondent in private prison context under O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6 and Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases).”
Surry v. Colvin (S.D. Ga. 2025).
· cites it 2× “See O.C.G.A. § 42-2-6. Accordingly, the Court DIRECTS the CLERK to update the docket in accordance with the above caption showing the substitution of Tyrone Oliver, Commissioner, Department of Corrections, as the proper Respondent.”
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.