---
title: O.C.G.A. § 42-4-32. Sanitation and health requirements.
collection: code
id: 42-4-32
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 42-4-32 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-32
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-32.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-32/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t41-42-(v29a)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=686641d_0#page=41
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/42-4.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 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: PENAL INSTITUTIONS / JAILS / CONDITIONS OF DETENTION
---

# O.C.G.A. § 42-4-32. Sanitation and health requirements.

(a) All aspects of food preparation and food service shall conform to the applicable standards of the Department of Public Health.

(b) All inmates shall be given not less than two substantial and wholesome meals daily.

(c) Sanitation inspections of both facilities and inmates shall be made as frequently as is necessary to ensure against the presence of unsanitary conditions. New inmates should be carefully classified, with adequate separation and treatment given as needed.

(d) The officer in charge or his designated representative shall assure that each inmate is observed daily, and a physician shall be immediately called if there are indications of serious injury, wound, or illness. The instructions of the physician shall be strictly carried out. Ill inmates shall be furnished such food as is prescribed by the attending physician.

## History

Ga. L. 1973, p. 890, § 3; Ga. L. 1977, p. 761, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 135, § 2; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, §§ 1-4, 1-6/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, §§ 6-3, 6-5/HB 214; Ga. L. 2024, p. 143, § 8/HB 1028, effective July 1, 2024.

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, deleted the second sentence of subsection (c), which read: “An official from the Department of Public Health or an officer designated by the commissioner of public health shall inspect the facilities at least once every three months.”