§ 19-13-73.Peace officers; powers and duties
Chapter 13. Family Violence · Article 5. Family Justice Centers · Last amended 2026 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-13-73
Plain-English Summary
A Family Justice Center may serve people from several cities or counties, while each police officer’s authority normally stops at his or her own agency’s borders. This section closes that gap for emergencies. It took effect July 1, 2026.
It applies to a peace officer employed by a law enforcement unit that participates in a Family Justice Center and who is assigned, detailed or grant-funded to operate within the center. When acting to further the center’s mission, that officer may respond to an emergency call for assistance, or provide a safety response, anywhere in the center’s designated service area — even where that is outside the officer’s normal territorial jurisdiction. The authority is narrow. It reaches only exigent or emergency circumstances requiring immediate law enforcement intervention to protect life, prevent serious bodily harm, or respond to an active incident. It is not a general grant of countywide or regional policing power.
An officer acting under this section has the same immunities, powers and duties as when acting within his or her ordinary jurisdiction. In exchange, the officer must promptly notify the law enforcement unit with jurisdiction over the center once the emergency has passed. Finally, the section doesn’t change existing mutual aid agreements, and it doesn’t stop counties and cities from entering intergovernmental agreements as the Georgia Constitution allows. Those arrangements continue alongside this emergency authority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Family Justice Center officer respond outside their jurisdiction in Georgia?
Yes, in emergencies. A peace officer assigned to a Family Justice Center may respond to an emergency call or provide a safety response anywhere in the center’s designated service area, even outside his or her normal territorial jurisdiction, when acting in furtherance of the center’s mission.
What kind of emergency allows an officer to act outside their jurisdiction?
Only exigent or emergency circumstances requiring immediate law enforcement intervention to protect life, prevent serious bodily harm, or respond to an active incident. Routine matters fall outside this authority. The response must also be within the center’s designated service area and in furtherance of the center’s mission.
Which officers get this extra authority?
Peace officers employed by a law enforcement unit that participates in a Family Justice Center and who are assigned, detailed or funded by a grant to operate within the center. Other officers of that agency don’t gain authority from this section.
Does an officer have immunity when responding outside their jurisdiction for a Family Justice Center?
Yes. An officer acting under this section has the same immunities, powers and duties as when acting in his or her ordinary jurisdiction. But the officer must promptly notify the law enforcement unit with jurisdiction over the center once the exigency has passed.
Does this law replace mutual aid agreements between police departments?
No. Nothing in this section alters existing mutual aid agreements or restricts counties and municipalities from entering into intergovernmental agreements consistent with Article IX, Section III of the Georgia Constitution. The emergency authority here works alongside those arrangements rather than replacing them.
Amendment History
Laws 2026, Act 719, § 1, eff. July 1, 2026.