Nonprofit compliance in Georgia

Georgia has no general volunteer background-check mandate. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34.2 authorizes, but does not require, fingerprint-based national checks of volunteers at organizations that serve children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. Checks are processed through the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) using the Georgia Applicant Processing Service (GAPS). The Georgia Long-term Care Background Check Program (O.C.G.A. § 31-7-350 et seq.) requires fingerprint checks of volunteers whose duties are equivalent to an employee's and who have direct access to residents at nursing homes, assisted living communities, personal care homes, hospices, home health agencies and other listed facilities. We found no Georgia statute requiring checks of school volunteers; districts set their own policies. Licensed child care programs must obtain DECAL comprehensive records checks on volunteers who provide consistent services (O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-30(6); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 591-1-1-.02).

• Exchange of National Criminal History Background Checks — Care Providers (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34.2) — Authorizes and facilitates, but does not require, fingerprint-based state and national criminal history checks of employees, contractors and volunteers of qualified entities that provide care to children, the elderly or individuals with disabilities; rewritten effective July 1, 2026 (HB 1097).
• Long-Term Care Background Check Program (O.C.G.A. § 31-7-350 et seq.) — Requires fingerprint-based GBI and FBI checks of owners, applicants and direct access employees — including volunteers whose duties are equivalent to an employee's — at nursing homes, assisted living communities, personal care homes, hospices, home health agencies and other listed long-term care facilities; physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and dietitians and nutritionists licensed by their Georgia boards, with licenses in good standing, are exempt.
• Georgia Criminal Records Disclosure (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34) — Lets private persons and organizations obtain Georgia criminal history with the subject's fingerprints or signed consent (restricted and first-offender records excluded); without consent only in-state felony convictions are released, and anyone making an adverse employment decision must disclose the record and its effect or commit a misdemeanor (GCIC’s rule extends the notice to other decisions).
• Child Care Comprehensive Records Checks (O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-30 et seq.; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 591-1-1) — Requires DECAL comprehensive records checks, with FBI fingerprints and registry searches in every state lived in during the prior five years, for child care employees, a term that covers anyone with personal contact with children in care, paid or not. DECAL treats a volunteer who serves more than once in 90 days as covered. Checks are portable for 12 months (24 for early-education students) and must be redone at least every five years unless fingerprints are retained in Rap Back (O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-39(a)–(b)).
• Mandated Reporting of Child Abuse (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-5) — Names child service organization personnel, including anyone volunteering at an organization that provides care, education, coaching, recreation or shelter to children, as mandated reporters. Reports must be made immediately, and no later than 24 hours; knowing and willful failure is a misdemeanor.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers who provide consistent services (more than once in 90 days) involving personal contact with children at DECAL-licensed child care learning centers and family child care learning homes; Volunteers with direct access and duties equivalent to an employee's at nursing homes, intermediate care homes, assisted living communities, adult day centers, personal care homes, hospices, home health agencies, private home care providers and adult residential mental health programs; Volunteers at those long-term care facilities whose employee-equivalent duties give routine access to residents' property or financial information; Directors, helpers and volunteers (other than parents who are not also employees) at license-exempt programs, including day camps, that receive CAPS child care subsidy funds.
• Check types in use: Fingerprint-based GBI GCIC state criminal history check; FBI national criminal history fingerprint check; Georgia Sex Offender Registry check; National Sex Offender Registry check.
• Administered by: Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) — Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC); fingerprinting through the Georgia Applicant Processing Service (GAPS), operated by IDEMIA (IdentoGO).
• Typical processing: GAPS results (GBI and FBI) typically reach the agency 24 to 48 hours after fingerprinting; DECAL and DCH then review before issuing a determination.

Georgia is one of the 39 states that generally require a charitable organization to register before soliciting contributions from its residents — typically before the first ask, not after the first gift, and usually with an annual renewal.

• Registration is generally required before soliciting, including by mail, phone, email, or a public donate page.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.