05 HB 212/AP
House
Bill 212 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Manning of the
32nd,
Parsons of the
42nd,
Oliver of the
83rd,
Talton of the
145th,
Lunsford of the
110th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 15-11-9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to appointment of a guardian ad litem for a child in a proceeding in juvenile
court, so as to require certain training for guardians ad litem appointed for
children in deprivation cases; to provide that such training shall not be in
addition to current continuing legal education requirements for attorneys; to
provide for exemptions in certain circumstances; to provide for an effective
date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 15-11-9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
appointment of a guardian ad litem for a child in a proceeding in juvenile
court, is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting in lieu thereof the
following:
"(b)
The court at any stage of a proceeding under this article, on application of a
party or on its own motion, shall appoint a guardian ad litem for a child who is
a party to the proceeding if the child has no parent, guardian, or custodian
appearing on the
child́s
behalf or if the interests of the parent, guardian, or custodian appearing on
the
child́s
behalf conflict with the
child́s
interests or in any other case in which the interests of the child require a
guardian. A party to the proceeding or the employee or representative of a party
to the proceeding shall not be appointed. In deprivation cases,
a person
appointed as a
child́s
guardian ad litem must have received before the appointment training appropriate
to the role that is administered or approved by the Office of the Child
Advocate, and may be an attorney or court
appointed special advocate, or
both, may
be appointed as the
child́s
guardian ad litem.
For attorneys,
the preappointment training required pursuant to this Code section shall be
satisfied within
attorneyś
existing continuing legal education obligations and shall not require attorneys
to complete additional training hours in addition to those currently required
by the State Bar of Georgia. The Office of the Child Advocate shall exempt from
the training required by this Code section attorneys who have practiced as
guardians ad litem in juvenile court deprivation proceedings for three or more
years and, when such determination is made by the court, have demonstrated a
proficiency in child
representation."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.