---
title: O.C.G.A. § 35-8-20. Training requirements for police chiefs, department heads, and wardens; effect of failure to fulfill training requirement; waivers.
collection: code
id: 35-8-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 35-8-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/35-8-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/35-8-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/35-8-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t35-t36-ch1-59-(v27)-2025-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=66569db4_0#page=288
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/35-8.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: LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND AGENCIES / EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING OF PEACE OFFICERS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 35-8-20. Training requirements for police chiefs, department heads, and wardens; effect of failure to fulfill training requirement; waivers.

(a) During calendar year 1985 and during each calendar year thereafter, the chief of police or department head of each law enforcement unit and wardens of state institutions shall complete 20 hours of training as provided in this Code section.

(b) The training required by subsection (a) of this Code section shall be completed in sessions as selected and provided or approved by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police or the Georgia Prison Wardens Association and which have been recognized by the council.

(c) The salary and travel expenses of a chief of police or department head of a law enforcement unit or a warden of a state institution taking the required training shall be paid by the law enforcement unit by which he or she is employed.

(d) Any chief of police or department head of a law enforcement unit or a warden of a state institution who does not fulfill the training requirement of this Code section shall lose his or her power of arrest.

(e) A waiver of the requirement of training provided in this Code section may be granted by the council, in its discretion, upon the presentation of evidence by a chief of police or department head of a law enforcement unit or a warden of a state institution that he or she was unable to complete such training due to medical disability, providential cause, or other reason deemed sufficient by the council.

## History

Code 1981, § 35-8-20, enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1210, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 35; Ga. L. 1993, p. 91, § 35; Ga. L. 1997, p. 542, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1488, § 5; Ga. L. 2025, p. 1029, § 35(36)/SB 153, effective July 1, 2025.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “the council” for “the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council” in subsections (b) and (e).