O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 49-2-1 (2019)

Department created; transfer from Department of Human Resources; commissioner; kinship care enforcement administrator

✓ 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) There is created a Department of Human Services. The powers, functions, and duties of the Department of Human Resources as they existed on June 30, 2009, except for those relating to the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases, the Division of Public Health, and the Office of Regulatory Services, unless specifically transferred or reassigned to the Department of Community Health or the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, are transferred to the Department of Human Services effective July 1, 2009, and the Department of Human Resources shall be reconstituted as the Department of Human Services effective July 1, 2009.

(b) There is created the position of commissioner of human services. The commissioner shall be the chief administrative officer of the department and be both appointed and removed by the board, subject to the approval of the Governor. 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.

(c)(1) As used in this subsection, the term:

(A) “Fictive kin” shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 15-11-2.

(B) “Kinship caregiver” means a grandparent, aunt, uncle, great aunt, great uncle, cousin, or sibling of a child under the age of 18 or fictive kin who has assumed responsibility for raising such child in an informal, noncustodial, or guardianship capacity upon the legal parents of such child losing or abdicating the ability to care for or provide basic necessities for such child.

(2) There is created the position of kinship care enforcement administrator within the Department of Human Services who shall be appointed by and serve at the discretion of the commissioner of human services. The kinship care enforcement administrator shall account for, monitor, facilitate, and ensure compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations of the federal government and this state which relate to any programs, including, but not limited to, any pilot programs, subsidies, or benefits, available to kinship caregivers or the children within their care. Powers and duties of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, § 37-1-20. Administration of mental health, developmental disabilities, addictive diseases, and other disability services generally, § 37-2-1 et seq.

History

Ga. L. 1972, p. 1015, § 1201; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-1/HB 228; Ga. L. 2016, p. 337, § 2-1/HB 962.

Annotations

Cross references. Powers and duties of Department of Community Health generally, § 31-2-1 et seq.

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Commissioner’s administrative powers not inhibited by Executive Reorganization Act. - Exercise of the power given to the commissioner of human resources to establish the internal structure of the department and to expend available funds for those purposes is not inhibited by any provision of the “Executive Reorganization Act” (Ga. L. 1972, p. 1015), or by the “Board of Human Resources Act” (Ga. L. 1972, p. 1069), or by

the statutory foundation for the functions transferred to the department. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 75-4. Structural organization of department. - Commissioner has statutory authority to establish the structural organization of the department, including authority to establish regional offices, and to expend available funds for those purposes. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 75-4.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1995–2026 · leading case: State of Georgia v. Ryan Duncan, 831 S.E.2d 4 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).

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State of Georgia v. Ryan Duncan, 831 S.E.2d 4 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 2× “See OCGA § 49-2-1 (a). 9 A "child-caring institution means any institution, society, agency, or facility, whether incorporated or not, which either primarily or incidentally provides full-time care for children through 18 years of age outside of their own homes, subject to such…”

Floyd Cnty. Grand Jury v. Dep't of Fam. & Child. Servs., 463 S.E.2d 519 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “…of the county, and no evidence has been presented to the contrary. The DHR was created by virtue of state law (OCGA § 49-2-1) as a state institution (OCGA § 49-2-5) to administer all categories of public assistance (OCGA §§ 49-2-6; 49-4-3 (b)) under the Georgia Public…”

Andy Desty v. Georgia Dep't of Human Servs./Child Support Servs. (11th Cir. 2026). · cites it 2× “” O.C.G.A. §§ 49-2-1; 49-2-5. And Georgia courts have recognized that, as an institution of the state, DHS is entitled to sovereign immunity under Georgia law.”

— 49-2-1(b) — 1 case

Andy Desty v. Georgia Dep't of Human Servs./Child Support Servs. (11th Cir. 2026). “” O.C.G.A. §§ 49-2-1; 49-2-5. And Georgia courts have recognized that, as an institution of the state, DHS is entitled to sovereign immunity under Georgia law.”

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.