Section 40-5-81. Program optional; certification and approval of courses

   (a) Any driver improvement program at which attendance is required by court order shall conform to the requirements of this article. When a defensive driving course is required by a court having jurisdiction over misdemeanor traffic law offenses or by any prosecuting attorney thereof, such course shall be certified and approved by the department under the provisions of Code Sections 40-5-82 and 40-5-83. Certificates of completion from unlicensed defensive driving courses shall not be recognized for any purposes under this article.

(b) Whenever any person is authorized or required to attend a driver improvement clinic or DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program as a condition of any sentence imposed under this title or any ordinance enacted pursuant to this title or as a condition of the retention or restoration of the person's driving privilege, such person, in complying with such condition, shall be authorized to attend any driver improvement clinic or DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program certified under this article; and no judicial officer, probation officer, law enforcement officer, or other officer or employee of a court or person who owns, operates, or is employed by a private company which has contracted to provide private probation services for misdemeanor cases shall specify, directly or indirectly, a particular driver improvement clinic or DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program which the person may or shall attend. This Code section shall not prohibit any judicial officer, probation officer, law enforcement officer, or other officer or employee of a court or owner, operator, or employee of a private company which has contracted to provide probation services for misdemeanor offenders from furnishing any person, upon request, the names of certified driver improvement clinics or DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs.

(c) It shall be unlawful for the owner, agent, servant, or employee of any driver improvement clinic or DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program licensed by the department to directly or indirectly solicit business by personal solicitation on public property, by phone, or by mail. A violation of this subsection shall be a misdemeanor. Advertising in any mass media, including, but not limited to, newspapers, radio, television, magazines, or telephone directories by a driver improvement clinic or DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program shall not be considered a violation of this subsection.

Code 1933, § 68D-102, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 2302, § 1; Code 1981, § 40-5-85.2, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 758, § 20; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2564, § 9; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2785, § 15; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2978, § 9.1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 454, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 5-41; Ga. L. 2003, p. 796, § 3; Ga. L. 2004, p. 631, § 40; Ga. L. 2005, p. 334, § 17-18/HB 501; Ga. L. 2011, p. 355, § 11/HB 269.