§ 19-13-72.Establishment; organization; operation; creation of board; powers and duties

This is the working core of Georgia’s Family Justice Center Act. Two kinds of founders may establish a center: a county, a municipality or a combination of them, in partnership with one or more nonprofit organizations; or any district attorney. A center may then be organized and run in one of four ways — directly by a county or city government; directly by a district attorney’s office; by a nonprofit corporation formed under Title 14 that a county or city designates to run it; or by a Title 14 nonprofit certified by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council as a victim services agency for one or more of the populations the center serves.

Each structure carries its own governance rule. A center run directly by a government or a district attorney’s office must have a board of not less than five members, drawn from a list of seats: one appointed by the county or city governing authority, one by the head of the law enforcement unit with jurisdiction over the center’s location, one by the district attorney for the county, one by the entity providing victim services at the center, one by the entity providing social services there, and two elected by a majority of the nonprofit, community-based participating agencies under the center’s memorandum of understanding. Board members serve two-year terms and until successors are chosen. A vacancy must be filled within 60 days, in the same way as the original appointment, and a mid-term replacement serves the balance of the term. If a nonprofit seat opens and no nonprofits remain as participating agencies, the rest of the board elects someone reasonably familiar with the center’s kind of support services.

A nonprofit designated by a government must file articles of incorporation and adopt bylaws under Chapter 3 of Title 14, keep a board that meets Article 8 of that chapter and includes representatives of the designating government, law enforcement, victim services, prosecution, social services and community-based nonprofits, and name a lead agency or fiscal agent — which may be the district attorney’s office or the county or city — to administer and oversee grants. A council-certified nonprofit need only keep a board that meets Article 8.

Whatever the structure, every center must operate under a written memorandum of understanding among participating agencies, including the law enforcement unit with jurisdiction over its location; provide space for assigned law enforcement personnel; keep victim information confidential under state and federal law; serve survivors in a trauma-informed, culturally competent and accessible way; and adopt bylaws on minimum qualifications and certifications for participating agencies and their staff. Those bylaws may not exclude anyone solely for having a criminal record, but specific offenses may disqualify a person from providing certain services.