§ 19-15-5.Meetings and proceedings of committees or subcommittees and panels
Chapter 15. Child Abuse · Last amended 2001 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-15-5
Plain-English Summary
This section decides who can watch. When a local protocol committee (§ 19-15-2) or a local child fatality review committee (§ 19-15-3) carries out its duties, it is closed to the public, and Georgia’s open meetings law in Chapter 14 of Title 50 doesn’t apply. The closed setting keeps out of public view whatever these committees discuss about individual children and families.
The statewide Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel (§ 19-15-4) is treated differently. Its meetings and proceedings are open to the public as long as no one discloses information identifying a deceased or abused child, any family member of the child, or an alleged or suspected abuser. When panel members need that identifying information to carry out the panel’s duties, the panel may close the meeting.
Meetings are only part of the picture. Section 19-15-6 governs the records these bodies keep. It makes most of their information confidential, makes review committee and panel reports public once identifying details are removed, and makes it a misdemeanor for members to knowingly disclose what happened at a meeting this section doesn’t open, except to carry out the chapter’s purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are child fatality review committee meetings open to the public in Georgia?
No. A local child fatality review committee is closed to the public when it exercises its duties, and Georgia’s open meetings law in Chapter 14 of Title 50 doesn’t apply to it. The same rule covers local child abuse protocol committees. The committee’s finished reports are a different matter: under § 19-15-6 they are public records, released on request after identifying information is removed.
Can I attend a meeting of the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel?
Often, yes. The statewide panel is open to the public as long as no information identifying a deceased or abused child, any family member of the child, or an alleged or suspected abuser is disclosed. But the panel may close a meeting to the public when that identifying information must be disclosed to panel members so the panel can carry out its duties.
Does Georgia’s open meetings law apply to child abuse protocol committees?
No. This section says a protocol committee, in the exercise of its duties, is closed to the public and isn’t subject to Chapter 14 of Title 50, Georgia’s open meetings law. The same is true of local child fatality review committees. Only the statewide Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel is generally open, and even it may close a meeting when identifying information must be discussed.
Can committee members talk about what happened at a closed child fatality review meeting?
Generally no. Under § 19-15-6, members of a protocol committee, review committee or the panel may not disclose what happens at any meeting other than one this section makes public, except to carry out the purposes of Chapter 15. A knowing violation is a misdemeanor. Review committee members, attendees and presenters may still share information with government agencies as needed to carry out the review committee’s duties.
When can the state child fatality panel close its meeting?
When information identifying a deceased or abused child, any family member of the child, or an alleged or suspected abuser must be disclosed to panel members so the panel can carry out its duties. Otherwise, the panel’s meetings stay open to the public. The decision to close is permissive: the section says the panel is authorized to close the meeting in that situation, not that it must.
Amendment History
Laws 1990, p. 1785, § 1; Laws 1991, p. 94, § 19; Laws 1993, p. 1695, § 2; Laws 1993, p. 1941, § 1; Laws 2001, p. 1158, § 1.
Formerly Code 1981, § 19-1-5.