How Does Georgia’s Recreational Property Act Limit Landowner Liability?
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It removes the ordinary duty of care. An owner who lets people use land for recreation without charging an admission fee “owes no duty of care to keep the premises safe” for that use and owes no warning of dangerous conditions (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-22). Liability survives only for a “willful or malicious failure to guard or warn”, or when the owner charged for the recreational use (§ 51-3-25), and the willful exception requires actual knowledge on four points.
What the statute covers
| Term | Statutory meaning (§ 51-3-21) |
|---|---|
| Owner | "the possessor of a fee interest, a tenant, a lessee, an occupant, or a person in control of the premises" |
| Land | "land, roads, water, watercourses, private ways and buildings, structures, and machinery or equipment when attached to the realty" |
| Recreational purpose | Includes "hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, picnicking, hiking, pleasure driving, aviation activities, nature study, water skiing, winter sports, and viewing or enjoying historical, archeological, scenic, or scientific sites" |
| Charge | "the admission price or fee asked in return for invitation or permission to enter or go upon the land" |
The stated purpose is “to encourage owners of land to make land and water areas available to the public for recreational purposes by limiting the owners’ liability” (§ 51-3-20).
What an owner does not take on
An owner who “directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use the property for recreational purposes” does not, by doing so, “extend any assurance that the premises are safe”, does not give the user “the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed”, and does not take on liability for injuries caused by users’ acts or omissions (§ 51-3-23). The ordinary visitor categories described in invitee, licensee, or trespasser do not apply to qualifying recreational use.
Exception one: a charge for the recreational use
The protection does not apply “when the owner of land charges the person or persons who enter or go on the land for the recreational use thereof” (§ 51-3-25(2)). The statute adds one carve-out: when land is leased to the state or a political subdivision, the lease payment is not a “charge”. In Stone Mountain Memorial Association v. Amestoy (2016), the Court of Appeals noted it was undisputed that Stone Mountain Park is open to the public for recreation and “does not charge an admission fee”, so the Act applied.
Exception two: willful or malicious failure to guard or warn
Georgia’s Court of Appeals applies a four-part test to this exception, traced in Amestoy to McGruder v. Georgia Power Co. The plaintiff must show the owner had actual knowledge that:
- the property was being used for recreational purposes;
- a condition existed involving an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm;
- the condition was not apparent to those using the property; and
- having that knowledge, the owner chose not to guard or warn.
Amestoy emphasized that the test requires actual knowledge on each prong: “Constructive knowledge is insufficient”, and the owner “has no duty to inspect the property”. In that case, a man died after his bicycle struck traffic barricades set up across a park road before a 5K event. The court held the barricades, striped orange and white and marked “do not enter”, were open and obvious, so there was no evidence the owner knew the condition was not apparent to users, and it reversed the denial of summary judgment.
Questions that decide whether the Act applies
- Did anyone pay to enter or use the land for recreation, as opposed to a lease payment from a government?
- Was the injured person on the land for a recreational purpose listed in, or similar to, § 51-3-21(4)?
- Did the owner actually know of the specific danger and that users could not see it?
- Is the defendant the owner, or a separate party such as an event organizer or contractor, whose own duties may differ?
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 51-3-20 through 51-3-25 (§§ 51-3-20 and 51-3-21 text as published in October 2016 on a mirror site; no amendment recorded in the 2022 to 2026 legislative summaries).
- Stone Mountain Memorial Association v. Amestoy, 337 Ga. App. 467 (2016)
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.