20-2-700. Reports by peace officers to school authorities and parent or guardian; timing; exception.

As used in this Code section, the term:#

1. (1)

   “Incidental to” means occurring in the course of or directly associated with standards or customary operations of a law enforcement officer’s employer.#

2. (2)

   “Law enforcement officer” means any duly constituted agent or officer of the State of Georgia or of any county, municipality, political subdivision, or local school system thereof who, as a full-time or part-time employee, is vested either expressly by law or by virtue of public employment or service with authority to enforce the criminal or traffic laws of this state with the power of arrest and whose duties include the preservation of public order, the protection of life and property, or the prevention, detection, or investigation of crime. Such term shall include, but shall not be limited to, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs; any member of the Georgia State Patrol or Georgia Bureau of Investigation; campus policemen and school security personnel provided for in Chapter 8 of this title; any person employed by the Department of Natural Resources as a law enforcement officer; any arson investigator of the state fire marshal’s office; employees designated by the commissioner of community supervision who have the duty to supervise children adjudicated for a Class A designated felony act or Class B designated felony act after release from restrictive custody, as such terms are defined in Code Section 15-11-2; and employees designated by the commissioner of juvenile justice pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (i) of Code Section 49-4A-8 who have the duty to investigate and apprehend delinquent children, or the supervision of delinquent children under intensive supervision in the community, and any child with a pending juvenile court case alleging the child to be a child in need of services who has escaped from a facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Juvenile Justice or who has broken the conditions of supervision.#

3. (3)

   “Official encounter” means an interaction of a law enforcement officer with a school age youth in such law enforcement officer’s official capacity for the purpose of enforcing the criminal laws of this state or preventing, detecting, or investigating a crime, provided that such interaction is directly related to a credible report or other credible information that such school age youth has threatened the death of, or serious injury to, one or more individuals who are or will likely be at or within a school.#

4. (4)

   “School age youth” means an individual who is between his or her sixth and sixteenth birthdays or who a law enforcement officer knows or reasonably believes is enrolled in a public or private elementary or secondary school in this state. Such term shall not include an individual who has successfully completed all the requirements for a high school diploma or a state approved high school equivalency (HSE) diploma.#

5. (5)

   “School official” means a local school superintendent or his or her designee or a school principal or other school administrator.#

Any person taking action with respect to a child pursuant to Code Section 20-2-699 shall report such action to a school official of the public or private school in which such child is currently enrolled or would be enrolled by virtue of his or her primary residence, and to the child’s parent or guardian.#

1. (1)

   Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, within five days of an official encounter with a school age youth in this state, the employer of each law enforcement officer present for such official encounter shall provide a written report of such official encounter to a school official of the public or private school in which such school age youth is currently enrolled or would be enrolled by virtue of his or her primary residence and to his or her parent or guardian.#

2. (2)

   A written report of an official encounter provided for in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not be required:#

   1. (A)

      When the interaction between the law enforcement officer and the school age youth is not incidental to the conduct of a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity to enforce the criminal laws of this state or to prevent, detect, or investigate a crime; or#

   2. (B)

      With respect to a school age youth whose presence during or participation in such official encounter is due exclusively to such school age youth being a witness or potential witness in a criminal investigation; provided, however, that the exception provided for in this subparagraph shall not apply if he or she is also a subject of such criminal investigation or is a suspect or person of interest in such criminal investigation.#

This Code section shall not apply to school age youth in the physical custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice within a secure facility; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to school age youth who are in the physical or legal custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice in a nonsecure residential placement or other nonsecure intensive supervision program.#