---
title: O.C.G.A. § 12-12-21. Sovereign immunity.
collection: code
id: 12-12-21
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 12-12-21 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-12-21
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-12-21.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-12-21/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t12-(v10)-2021-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=67595359_0#page=1181
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-12.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-12-20.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES / ASBESTOS SAFETY
---

# O.C.G.A. § 12-12-21. Sovereign immunity.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to constitute a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the state, the board, or the division. No action shall be brought against the state, the board, the division, or any member, officer, or employee thereof for damages sustained from the improper or unlawful removal or encapsulation of friable asbestos-containing materials from facilities or residential dwellings governed by this chapter. Nothing in this chapter and no order, action, license, or advice of the director, the division, or any representative thereof shall be construed to relieve a contractor, project monitor, or asbestos worker of the legal duties, obligations, or liabilities incident to removal or encapsulation of friable asbestos-containing materials from facilities or residential dwellings.

## History

Code 1981, § 12-12-21, enacted by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1157, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1996, p. 238, § 1.

## Law Reviews

For comment, ‘‘Keeping the Arms in Touch: Taking Political Accountability Seriously in the Eleventh Amendment Arm of the State Doctrine,’’ see 64 Emory L.J. 819 (2015).