---
title: O.C.G.A. § 20-3-453. Eligibility.
collection: code
id: 20-3-453
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 20-3-453 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/20-3-453
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/20-3-453.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/20-3-453/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t20-ch3-18-(v17a)-2025-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=10d12596_0#page=287
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
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publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia
heading_path: EDUCATION / POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION / SCHOLARSHIPS, LOANS, AND GRANTS / GEORGIA STUDENT FINANCE AUTHORITY
---

# O.C.G.A. § 20-3-453. Eligibility.

No grants shall be payable to any person under this subpart who fails to meet any of the following qualifications or restrictions:

(1) Such person shall be the child, either natural or adopted, or the spouse of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, prison guard, emergency medical technician, or highway emergency response operator who has been permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty or while performing the duties to which he or she was assigned. If such person is the adopted child of any such law enforcement officer, firefighter, prison guard, emergency medical technician, or highway emergency response operator, such person shall have been adopted and any final order of adoption issued prior to the date of the accident or event causing the death or permanent disability of such parent;

(2) Such person shall have been a citizen of this state for a period of at least 12 months immediately prior to the date of registration in an approved school and shall remain a citizen of this state while receiving funds under this subpart;

(3) The parent or spouse of such person shall have been employed, appointed, or regularly enrolled by this state or any county, municipality, department, board, bureau, branch, agency, commission, authority, or political subdivision of the state on the date of the accident or event from which death or permanent disability resulted; and

(4) Any person otherwise meeting the conditions of this subpart shall be eligible to receive a grant even though the accident or the event causing the death or disability of such person’s parent or spouse occurred prior to July 1, 2025.

## History

Ga. L. 1972, p. 1133, § 3; Ga. L. 1976, p. 541, § 2; Code 1933, § 32-3777, enacted by Ga. L. 1980, p. 835, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 20; Ga. L. 2002, p. 660, § 4; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1259, § 11; Ga. L. 2025, p. 785, § 2-4/SB 20, effective July 1, 2025.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, rewrote this Code section, which read: “No grants shall be payable to any person under this subpart who fails to meet any of the following qualifications or restrictions:

“(1) Such person must be the child, either natural or adopted, of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or prison guard who has been permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty or while performing the duties to which he was assigned in the normal course of employment. If such person is the adopted child of any such law enforcement officer, firefighter, or prison guard, such person must have been adopted and any final order of adoption issued prior to the date of the accident or event causing the death or permanent disability of such parent;

“(2) Such person must have been a citizen of this state for a period of at least 12 months immediately prior to the date of registration in an approved school and must remain a citizen of the state while receiving funds under this subpart;

“(3) The deceased or disabled law enforcement officer, firefighter, or prison guard parent of such person must have been an employee, either full-time or part-time, or an officer or official, whether elected or appointed, of this state or any county, municipality, department, board, bureau, branch, agency, commission, authority, or political subdivision of the state on the date of the accident or event from which death or permanent disability resulted; and

“(4) Any person otherwise meeting the conditions of this subpart shall be eligible to receive a grant even though the accident or the event causing the death or disability of such person’s parent occurred prior to July 1, 1980.”