SB113: SB113 Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists; establish a professional health program; authorize

Currently there is no specific state law authorizing the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists or the Georgia Board of Nursing to run a formal program for identifying and helping licensees who are impaired by drugs, alcohol, or mental or physical health problems. This bill adds new sections to Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated allowing each board to contract with an outside organization (called an 'entity') to run a 'professional health program' that monitors and rehabilitates impaired healthcare professionals so they can safely continue practicing. The bill lets the boards share confidential licensee information with these entities, and it makes records from the program confidential, shielding them from Georgia's open records law and from being used in court subpoenas or lawsuits. Participating professionals must pay their own program costs, and entities that run the programs are given immunity from civil or criminal liability. The programs depend on the General Assembly providing funding, though boards may also accept private donations or grants.

• Authorizes the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists to contract with an outside entity to run a program monitoring and rehabilitating impaired licensees.
• Authorizes the Georgia Board of Nursing to set up a similar professional health program for impaired nurses through a new article in O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 26.
• Defines 'impaired' as being unable to practice safely due to illness, drug or alcohol use, or a mental or physical condition.
• Makes records and findings from these programs confidential, exempt from Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. Title 50, Chapter 18), and unavailable for court subpoenas or lawsuits.
• Requires impaired professionals who take part in the program to pay their own participation costs.
• Grants entities that run these programs immunity from civil or criminal liability for actions performed under their contract with the board.

Licensed professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists; licensed nurses in Georgia; the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists; the Georgia Board of Nursing; and outside organizations that contract with these boards to run monitoring and rehabilitation programs.

Healthcare professionals struggling with substance use or mental or physical health problems could get a confidential path to treatment and monitoring instead of immediate disciplinary action, while boards gain a formal, legally protected way to track and help them return to safe practice.

• Section 1 adds Code Section 43-10A-24, letting the counselors, social workers, and therapists board contract with an entity to run a professional health program.
• Section 1 lets the board share licensee information with the entity notwithstanding usual confidentiality limits in O.C.G.A. § 43-1-2 and § 43-10A-17.
• Section 1 declares program records confidential, exempt from open records law, and off-limits to subpoenas or discovery.
• Section 2 adds a new Article 5 (O.C.G.A. §§ 43-26-70 through 43-26-74) creating a parallel professional health program for the Georgia Board of Nursing.
• Both new sections make the programs subject to legislative appropriation (state funding) and allow boards to accept private funding, grants, or in-kind gifts.
• Both sections give contracted entities immunity from civil or criminal liability for program-related actions performed under their contracts.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-05Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)Primary sponsor
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)

• professional licensing
• healthcare workforce
• nursing regulation
• substance abuse treatment
• open records exemptions