---
title: O.C.G.A. § 45-9-86. Application for indemnification.
collection: code
id: 45-9-86
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 45-9-86 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-9-86
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-9-86.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-9-86/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t45-(v33)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=c5ce751b_0#page=59
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/45-9.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-9-85.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/45-9-86.1.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: PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES / INSURING AND INDEMNIFICATION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES / LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, FIREMEN, PRISON GUARDS, AND PUBLICLY EMPLOYED EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS / GEORGIA STATE INDEMNIFICATION FUND
---

# O.C.G.A. § 45-9-86. Application for indemnification.

(a) As used in this Code section, the terms “COVID-19” and “public safety officer” shall have the same meanings as provided in Code Section 45-9-85.

(b) An application for indemnification with respect to a claim for total permanent disability or partial permanent disability of a public safety officer shall be submitted by that person unless the person is mentally incompetent, in which case the application may be made on such person’s behalf by his or her legal guardian.

(c) An application for indemnification with respect to a claim for the death of a public safety officer shall be submitted by or on behalf of the surviving unremarried spouse or dependents eligible under this part.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this Code section, an application for indemnification with respect to death, organic brain damage, total permanent disability, or partial permanent disability must be made within 24 months after the date of the incident giving rise to the death, organic brain damage, or disability.

(e) An application for indemnification with respect to a claim for the death of a public safety officer related to COVID-19 that occurred on or before April 15, 2022, shall be submitted between July 1, 2025, and August 1, 2025. No indemnification claim for the death of a public safety officer related to COVID-19 that occurred on or before April 15, 2022, shall be paid for an application not properly submitted between July 1, 2025, and August 1, 2025.

## History

Ga. L. 1978, p. 1914, § 7; Ga. L. 1980, p. 700, § 5; Ga. L. 1981, p. 477, § 4; Ga. L. 1985, p. 413, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 822, § 7; Ga. L. 1991, p. 771, § 2; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1312, § 6; Ga. L. 1995, p. 877, §§ 4, 5; Ga. L. 2002, p. 660, § 4(19); Ga. L. 2002, p. 1259, §§ 8, 11(19); Ga. L. 2008, p. 470, § 1/SB 254; Ga. L. 2023, p. 580, § 1/HB 437, effective May 3, 2023; Ga. L. 2024, p. 1052, § 6(34)/SB 448, effective July 1, 2024; Ga. L. 2025, p. 699, § 2/SB 56, effective July 1, 2025.

## Code Commission Notes

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2025, “July 1, 2025,” was substituted for “the effective date of this Code section” twice in subsection (e).

## Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective May 3, 2023, added subsection (a); redesignated former subsections (a) through (c) as present subsections (b) through (d), respectively; substituted “public safety officer” for “law enforcement officer, firefighter, prison guard, emergency medical technician, emergency management rescue specialist, or state highway employee” in the middle of subsection (b); and substituted “public service officer” for “law enforcement officer, firefighter, prison guard, emergency medical technician, emergency management rescue specialist, or state highway employee” in the middle of subsection (c).

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “public safety officer” for “public service officer” in subsection (c).

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, in subsection (a), substituted “terms ‘COVID-19’ and” for “term” and “meanings” for “meaning”; substituted “Except as provided in subsection (e) of this Code section, an” for “An” in subsection (d); and added subsection (e).