---
title: O.C.G.A. § 37-3-20. Admission of voluntary patients; consent of parent or guardian to treatment; giving notice of rights to patient at time of admission.
collection: code
id: 37-3-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 37-3-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t37-t39-(v28)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=6f93000f_0#page=73
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/37-3.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-8.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-21.md
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 / HOSPITALIZATION AND TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY PATIENTS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 37-3-20. Admission of voluntary patients; consent of parent or guardian to treatment; giving notice of rights to patient at time of admission.

(a) The chief medical officer of any facility may receive for observation and diagnosis any patient 12 years of age or older making application therefor, any patient under 18 years of age for whom such application is made by his or her parent or guardian, any patient who has a psychiatric advance directive and for whom such application is made by his or her mental health care agent, and any patient who has been declared legally incompetent and for whom such application is made by his or her guardian. If found to show evidence of mental illness and to be suitable for treatment, such person may be given care and treatment at such facility; and such person may be detained by such facility until discharged pursuant to Code Section 37-3-21 or 37-3-22. The parents or guardian of a minor child must give written consent to such treatment. An individualized service plan shall be developed for such person as soon as possible.

(b) Any individual voluntarily admitted to a facility under this Code section shall be given notice of his or her rights under this chapter at the time of admission.

## History

Ga. L. 1952, p. 94, § 1; Ga. L. 1958, p. 697, § 2; Ga. L. 1960, p. 837, § 2; Code 1933, § 88-502, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-503.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1; Ga. L. 2022, p. 611, § 2-23/HB 752.

## Law Reviews

For article, “HB 752: Psychiatric Advance Directive Act,” see 39 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 191 (2022).

## Amendments

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, in the first sentence in subsection (a), substituted “his or her parent” for “his parent” and “his or her guardian” for “his guardian”, and inserted “any patient who has a psychiatric advance directive and for whom such application is made by his or her mental health care agent,”; and in subsection (b), substituted “his or her rights” for “his rights” and deleted “his” preceding “admission”.