Georgia § 43-28-16 - Penalty.

§ 43-28-16. Penalty.

Any person who violates this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250.00 and not more than $1,000.00, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or both. A license held by any person convicted under this Code section shall be forfeited and revoked upon the board receiving notice of such conviction. It is unlawful for any person who is not registered under this chapter as an occupational therapist or as an occupational therapy assistant or whose registration has been suspended or revoked to use, in connection with his or her name or place of business, the words "occupational therapist," "licensed occupational therapist," "occupational therapy assistant," "licensed occupational therapy assistant," or the letters "O.T.," "O.T.R.," "O.T.R./L., "O.T./L.," "O.T.A.," "L.O.T.A.," "C.O.T.A./L.," or "C.O.T.A."; or any other words, letters, abbreviations, or insignia indicating or implying that he or she is an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant or to show in any way, orally, in writing, in print, or by sign, directly or by implication, or to represent himself or herself as an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant. (Ga. L. 1976, p. 993, § 19; Ga. L. 2019, p. 745, § 1/HB 253.) The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted "upon the board receiving notice" for "immediately for one year from the date" near the end of the second sentence of subsection (a); and, in subsection (b), inserted "or her" near the middle, deleted " 'occupational therapist registered,'" following "'licensed occupational therapist,'", substituted "or the letters 'O.T.,' 'O.T.R.,' 'O.T.R./L.,' 'O.T./L.,' 'O.T.A.,' 'L.O.T.A.,' 'C.O.T.A./L.,'" for " 'certified occupational therapy assistant'; or the letters 'O.T.,' 'L.O.T.,' 'O.T.R.,'", inserted "or she" in the middle, and inserted "or herself" near the end. Cross references. - False or fraudulent advertising, § 10-1-420 et seq.