---
title: O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16. Criteria for pronouncing death; immunity from liability.
collection: code
id: 31-10-16
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-10-16
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-10-16.md
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source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t31-(v23)-2025-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=da7ded69_0#page=661
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.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia
heading_path: HEALTH / VITAL RECORDS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16. Criteria for pronouncing death; immunity from liability.

(a) A person may be pronounced dead by a qualified physician, by a registered professional nurse or nurse practitioner authorized to make a pronouncement of death under Code Section 31-7-16 or 31-7-176.1, by an advanced practice registered nurse authorized to make a pronouncement of death under subsection (o) of Code Section 43-34-25, or by a physician assistant authorized to make a pronouncement of death under Code Section 31-7-16 or 31-7-176.1 or subsection (j) of Code Section 43-34-103, if it is determined that the individual has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory function or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.

(b) A person who acts in good faith in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section shall not be liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for such act.

(c) The criteria for determining death authorized in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be cumulative to and shall not prohibit the use of other medically recognized criteria for determining death.

## History

Code 1933, § 88-1715.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1629, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-1716, enacted by Ga. L. 1982, p. 723, § 1; Code 1981, § 31-10-70; Code 1981, § 31-10-16, enacted by Ga. L. 1982, p. 723, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1392, § 3; Ga. L. 2009, p. 859, § 9/HB 509; Ga. L. 2017, p. 625, § 3/SB 96.

## Law Reviews

For article, “Baby Doe Cases: Compromise and Moral Dilemma,” see 34 Emory L.J. 545 (1986).

For note, “Incubating for the State: The Precarious Autonomy of Persistently Vegetative and Brain-Dead Pregnant Women,” see 22 Ga. L. Rev. 1103 (1988).