Section 37-2-11.1. Venue in actions against community service board; representation by Attorney General; immunity; use of legal counsel; authority for indemnification, defense, and insurance

   (a) Venue for the purpose of any action against a community service board shall be the county in which the principal office of the community service board is located. For purposes of this Code section, "principal office" shall be defined as the facility which houses the executive director or other such top administrator for the community service board.

(b) In any legal proceeding, a regional planning board or the regional office shall be considered a unit of the department and shall be afforded the assistance of legal counsel from the Attorney General.

(c) (1) The community service boards shall be public bodies but shall not be considered agencies of the state or any specific county or municipality. Such community service boards are public agencies in their own right and shall have the same immunity as provided for counties. No county shall be liable for any action, error, or omission of a community service board. Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, and regardless of any provisions of law which grant employees of the community service boards benefits under programs operated by the state or which deem them to be state employees only for purposes of those benefits, employees of the community service boards shall not be employees of the state but shall be employees of the community service boards and, further, the state shall not be liable for any action, error, or omission of such employees.

   (2) A community service board may employ or contract for legal counsel to assist in performing its duties and shall be authorized to appoint legal counsel to represent the community service board and its employees. The community service board may exercise any authority granted in Article 2 of Chapter 9 of Title 45, relating to the indemnification, defense, and insuring of members and employees of public bodies.

Code 1981, § 37-2-11.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1761, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 16; Ga. L. 1994, p. 437, § 7; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1324, § 1-7; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-1/HB 228.