Section 43-13-4. Qualifications of driver training school operators

   Every person who desires to operate a driver training school or a commercial driver training school shall meet the following requirements:

   (1) Be of good moral character;

   (2) Maintain an established place of business in the State of Georgia which is open to the public;

   (3) Maintain bodily injury and property damage liability insurance on motor vehicles while used in driver training instruction, insuring the liability of the driver training school, the driving instructors, and any person taking instruction, in at least the following amounts: $100,000.00 for bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident and, subject to such limit for one person, $300,000.00 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident and the amount of $50,000.00 for damage to property of others in any one accident. Evidence of such insurance coverage, in the form of a certificate from the insurance carrier, shall be filed with the department; and such certificate shall stipulate that the insurance shall not be canceled except upon ten days' prior written notice to the department. Such insurance shall be written by a company authorized to do business in this state;

   (4) Provide a continuous surety company bond in the principal sum of $10,000.00 for the protection of the contractual rights of students in such form as will meet with the approval of the department and written by a company authorized to do business in this state; provided, however, that the aggregate liability of the surety for all breaches of the condition of the bond in no event shall exceed the principal sum of $10,000.00 per location, and a single bond at such rate for all schools operated by the same person may be provided in satisfaction of this paragraph. The surety on any such bond may cancel such bond on giving 30 days' notice thereof in writing to the department and shall be relieved of liability for any breach of any condition of the bond which occurs after the effective date of cancellation. If at any time said bond is not valid and in force, the license of the school or program shall be deemed suspended by operation of law until a valid surety company bond is again in force;

   (5) Have the equipment necessary to the giving of proper instruction in the operation of motor vehicles as prescribed by the department;

   (6) Pay to the department an application fee for the approval of driver training schools and instructors, commercial driver training schools and instructors, and limited license driver training schools and instructors. The amount of this fee shall be established by the commissioner of driver services and shall, as best as the commissioner shall determine, approximate the expense incurred by the department in consideration of the license applications. These licenses and each renewal thereof shall be valid for a period of four years unless suspended or revoked prior to the expiration of that time period;

   (7) Submit at least one set of classifiable electronically recorded fingerprints to the department in accordance with the fingerprint system of identification established by the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The department shall transmit the fingerprints to the Georgia Crime Information Center, which shall submit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a search of bureau records and an appropriate report and promptly conduct a search of state records based upon the fingerprints. After receiving the report from the Georgia Crime Information Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the department shall determine whether the applicant may be certified; and

   (8) Be a United States citizen, or if not a citizen, present federal documentation verified by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be valid documentary evidence of lawful presence in the United States under federal immigration law.

Ga. L. 1968, p. 436, § 3; Ga. L. 2003, p. 796, § 12; Ga. L. 2006, p. 460, § 3/HB 1252; Ga. L. 2010, p. 932, § 28/HB 396; Ga. L. 2011, p. 355, § 20/HB 269.