Section 26-5-48 - Prerequisites to licensing; limits on licenses; waivers; creation of regions(a) Prior to the department issuing a license to a governing body for any narcotic treatment program, the program shall demonstrate the following: (1) Compliance with all state and federal law and regulations;(2) Compliance with all applicable standards of practice;(3) Program structure for successful service delivery; and(4) Impact on the delivery of opioid treatment services of the applicant in the applicable population.(b) The department shall issue a license to a governing body for any narcotic treatment program which meets all the rules and regulations for such program and the licensing of such program does not exceed four licensed treatment programs per region pursuant to subsection (h) of this Code section.(c) The department will evaluate the applications based on data submitted as required by Code Section 26-5-47.(d) Applications for licensure submitted to the department prior to June 1, 2016, shall not be subject to Code Section 26-5-46 or 26-5-47.(e) Programs licensed on or before June 30, 2017, are not subject to the regional maximum allowable program limitations pursuant to this Code section. However, if a region has four or more licensed programs on or after July 1, 2017, such region shall be considered to have reached its maximum allowable programs.(f) The department shall establish a review process to determine if a waiver should be granted to an applicant and allow an application to be submitted for review in a region that has four or more licensed narcotic treatment programs. The department shall have full authority to determine the requirements that must be met for a waiver to be considered for review.(g) In the event that the department receives multiple letters of intent before an open enrollment period for a specific region and the ensuing applications will lead to the regional license limit being exceeded, the department shall have the authority to develop a scoring system for the applications submitted and approve a program or programs determined to be most fit for licensure. The department shall develop an appeal process for those applications not selected under such scoring system.(h) For the purpose of narcotic treatment program application evaluation for the department and delivery of services by narcotic treatment programs in communities and to citizens of this state and for the purpose of establishing narcotic treatment programs regional boundaries, there are created 49 regions with those counties designated as follows:(1) Region 1 shall be composed of Dade, Catoosa, Walker, and Chattooga counties;(2) Region 2 shall be composed of Whitfield and Murray counties;(3) Region 3 shall be composed of Gordon and Bartow counties;(4) Region 4 shall be composed of Floyd County;(5) Region 5 shall be composed of Polk and Haralson counties;(6) Region 6 shall be composed of Paulding County;(7) Region 7 shall be composed of Cobb County;(8) Region 8 shall be composed of Douglas County;(9) Region 9 shall be composed of Fulton County;(10) Region 10 shall be composed of Cherokee County;(11) Region 11 shall be composed of Forsyth County;(12) Region 12 shall be composed of Fannin, Gilmer, and Pickens counties;(13) Region 13 shall be composed of Towns, Union, Lumpkin, and White counties;(14) Region 14 shall be composed of Rabun, Habersham, and Stephens counties;(15) Region 15 shall be composed of Hart, Franklin, Elbert, Oglethorpe, and Madison counties;(16) Region 16 shall be composed of Banks, Jackson, and Barrow counties;(17) Region 17 shall be composed of Hall and Dawson counties;(18) Region 18 shall be composed of Gwinnett County;(19) Region 19 shall be composed of DeKalb County;(20) Region 20 shall be composed of Clayton County;(21) Region 21 shall be composed of Henry County;(22) Region 22 shall be composed of Rockdale County;(23) Region 23 shall be composed of Clarke and Oconee counties;(24) Region 24 shall be composed of Walton and Newton counties;(25) Region 25 shall be composed of Wilkes, Lincoln, Taliaferro, McDuffie, Warren, and Glascock counties;(26) Region 26 shall be composed of Columbia, Richmond, and Burke counties;(27) Region 27 shall be composed of Greene, Morgan, Hancock, Putnam, Jasper, Jones, Baldwin, and Wilkinson counties;(28) Region 28 shall be composed of Butts, Lamar, and Monroe counties;(29) Region 29 shall be composed of Fayette, Spalding, Pike, and Upson counties;(30) Region 30 shall be composed of Carroll, Heard, Troup, Coweta, and Meriwether counties;(31) Region 31 shall be composed of Muscogee, Harris, Talbot, Taylor, Marion, and Chattahoochee counties;(32) Region 32 shall be composed of Bibb, Crawford, and Twiggs counties;(33) Region 33 shall be composed of Houston and Peach counties;(34) Region 34 shall be composed of Laurens, Johnson, and Treutlen counties;(35) Region 35 shall be composed of Washington, Jefferson, Emanuel, Candler, and Toombs counties;(36) Region 36 shall be composed of Jenkins, Screven, Bulloch, and Effingham counties;(37) Region 37 shall be composed of Chatham County;(38) Region 38 shall be composed of Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh, Long, Tattnall, and Evans counties;(39) Region 39 shall be composed of Glynn, Camden, Wayne, Appling, and Jeff Davis counties;(40) Region 40 shall be composed of Dodge, Telfair, Montgomery, Wheeler, Bleckley, and Pulaski counties;(41) Region 41 shall be composed of Charlton, Ware, Brantley, Pierce, Bacon, and Coffee counties;(42) Region 42 shall be composed of Clinch, Atkinson, Lanier, Berrien, and Cook counties;(43) Region 43 shall be composed of Lowndes, Colquitt, Echols, Brooks, and Thomas counties;(44) Region 44 shall be composed of Tift, Turner, Irwin, and Worth counties;(45) Region 45 shall be composed of Dooly, Crisp, Ben Hill, and Wilcox counties;(46) Region 46 shall be composed of Dougherty County;(47) Region 47 shall be composed of Lee, Sumter, Macon, Schley, Webster, and Stewart counties;(48) Region 48 shall be composed of Calhoun, Baker, Mitchell, Decatur, and Grady counties; and(49) Region 49 shall be composed of Terrell, Randolph, Quitman, Clay, Early, Miller, and Seminole counties.Added by 2017 Ga. Laws 140,§ 1, eff. 5/4/2017.