---
title: O.C.G.A. § 37-3-160. Individual dignity of patients to be respected; treatment of the mentally ill as medical patients; use of criminal facilities and procedures.
collection: code
id: 37-3-160
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 37-3-160 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-160
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-160.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-160/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t37-t39-(v28)-2021-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=c6b9c518_0#page=207
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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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: MENTAL HEALTH / EXAMINATION, TREATMENT, ETC., FOR MENTAL ILLNESS / RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF PATIENTS, THEIR REPRESENTATIVES, ETC., GENERALLY / RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES AS TO MANNER OF CARE AND TREATMENT AND AS TO MAINTENANCE AND RELEASE OF CLINICAL RECORDS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 37-3-160. Individual dignity of patients to be respected; treatment of the mentally ill as medical patients; use of criminal facilities and procedures.

The patient’s dignity as an individual shall be respected at all times and upon all occasions, including any occasion wherein the patient is taken into custody, detained, or transported. Mentally ill patients or those suspected of being mentally ill shall, to the maximum extent reasonably possible, be treated at all times as medical patients. All patients shall be treated by a physician or psychologist acting within the scope of his or her license. Except where required under conditions of extreme urgency, those procedures, facilities, vehicles, and restraining devices normally utilized for criminals or those accused of crime shall not be used in connection with the mentally ill.

## History

Code 1933, § 88-502.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-502.2, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1902, § 12.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘Distinctive Factors Affecting the Legal Context of End-Of-Life Medical Care for Older Persons,’’ see 33 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 869 (2017). For article, ‘‘Ending-Life Decisions: Some Disability Perspectives,’’ see 33 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 893 (2017). For article, ‘‘Unbefriended and Unrepresented: Better Medical Decision Making for Incapacitated Patients Without Healthcare Surro-gates,’’ see 33 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 923 (2017). For article, ‘‘Exploring the Right to Die in the U.S.,’’ see 33 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1021 (2017).

For note comparing procedures for hospitalization of the mentally ill in Georgia to other jurisdictions and suggesting improvements, see 7 Mercer L. Rev. 361 (1956).