---
title: O.C.G.A. § 31-7-359. Liability for civil damages; sovereign immunity not waived.
collection: code
id: 31-7-359
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 31-7-359 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-7-359
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-7-359.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-7-359/text
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=466
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/31-7.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 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia
heading_path: HEALTH / REGULATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF HOSPITALS AND OTHER HEALTH CARE FACILITIES / GEORGIA LONG-TERM CARE BACKGROUND CHECK PROGRAM
---

# O.C.G.A. § 31-7-359. Liability for civil damages; sovereign immunity not waived.

(a) No person, including the department, a facility, or an individual acting on behalf of such entities, shall be liable for civil damages or be subject to any claim, demand, cause of action, or proceeding of any nature as a result of actions taken in good faith to comply with this article, including the disqualification of an applicant from employment on the basis of a disqualifying crime.

(b)(1) A facility that has obtained a satisfactory determination on an owner, applicant, or employee in accordance with this article, or confirmation that such owner, applicant, or employee has obtained a favorable final appeal decision under Code Section 31-7-358, shall be immune from liability for claims of negligent hiring when such claims are based upon the criminal record of such owner, applicant, or employee, even when the information contained in the criminal background check used by the department is later determined to have been incomplete or inaccurate; provided, however, that such immunity shall not preclude the liability of a facility concerning claims based on information beyond the scope of the criminal record and satisfactory determination about the owner, applicant, or employee which the facility knew or should have known.

(2) When a facility has obtained a satisfactory determination on an owner, applicant, or employee, there shall be a rebuttable presumption of due care for claims of negligent hiring, negligent retention, or other similar claims to the extent such claims are based upon an owner’s, applicant’s, or employee’s criminal record.

(c) Nothing in this article shall require a facility to conduct any other type of criminal history check of an owner, applicant, or employee, and a facility shall not be held liable for claims of negligent hiring, negligent retention, or other similar claims based solely or in part on its failure to conduct other types of criminal history checks.

(d) Nothing in this article shall be construed to waive the sovereign immunity of the state, the department, or any other entity of the state.

## History

Code 1981, § 31-7-359, enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 611, § 1-4/SB 406.