§ 150-29. Enforcement of handicapped parking.

(a)

The police chief or the chief's designee shall have the authority to appoint any person who is a citizen of the United States, is of good moral character, has not previously been convicted of a felony and is a handicapped person as defined in O.C.G.A. § 40-6-221(2) to enforce the sections of this chapter pertaining to handicapped parking.

(b)

Each person appointed pursuant to this section shall complete an application, satisfactorily complete a course of training on handicapped parking enforcement and take and subscribe to an oath of office as prescribed by the police chief or the chief's designee.

(c)

The application required by subsection (b) of this section shall show the name and address of the applicant, the name and address of the immediate members of the family of the applicant, the applicant's marital status and shall have attached thereto a photograph of the applicant, together with sufficient fingerprints to definitely identify the applicant. The police chief or the chief's designee is specifically authorized to require additional information from the applicant. Upon receipt of the application required by subsection (b) of this section, the police chief or the chief's designee shall cause a complete and thorough investigation to be made of the applicant to determine the applicant's moral, physical and mental qualifications.

(d)

Any person appointed and sworn shall have the power to serve citations for violations or failure to comply with handicapped parking laws of the city, in the same manner as any law enforcement officer of the state or any county or municipality of the state, subject to the following limitations:

(1)

No person so appointed shall be deemed a peace officer or an employee of the state, county or municipality or receive any compensation therefrom.

(2)

No appointed person shall be required to complete training as a peace officer.

(3)

No appointed person shall have the power or duty to enforce other traffic or criminal laws.

(4)

No person shall possess and carry firearms and other weapons for the purpose of enforcing handicapped parking laws; however, a person so licensed to carry a handgun will not be in violation of this section.

(5)

No authorized person shall be entitled to any indemnification from the state, county or city for any injury or property damage sustained as a result of enforcement activities. Each authorized person shall specifically acknowledge that such person has no rights to any claim of injury or property damage resulting from handicap enforcement activities.

(6)

No government, agency, department or officer of the state, county or city shall be liable or accountable for any act or omission of any person appointed to issue parking citations. Each authorized person shall specifically hold harmless the city, its employees and agents from liability for any such act or omission by such authorized person.

(Code 1977, § 11-2062)

State law reference

Enforcement officers for handicapped parking restrictions, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-228.