A city is covered by the ADA. Its risk pool is formed by a group of cities. Its
claims administrator is a private company under contract. I asked all three, in writing, who the ADA
contact was. This page lays out what the law actually says, and what happened when I asked.
The disclaimer, up front. I am not a lawyer. Nothing here is legal advice. Every
authority below is linked so you can read the original yourself. Where the answer is genuinely open,
I say so instead of pretending otherwise.
What the statute says
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act covers public entities. The definition is broader
than “a city,” and the breadth is the whole point:
“(A) any State or local government; (B) any department, agency, special purpose district, or other
instrumentality of a State or States or local government.”42 U.S.C. § 12131(1)
Read subparagraph (B) again slowly. It does not say “a city.” It says a department, an agency, a
special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a local government. That language was
written to stop the obligation disappearing every time a government does something through a body it
created rather than through its own front desk.
Source: 42 U.S.C.
§ 12131, Cornell Legal Information Institute. The implementing regulations are at
28 C.F.R. Part 35.
What Georgia law says a risk pool is
Georgia has a whole chapter for this. Title 36, Chapter 85 of the Georgia Code is called
Interlocal Risk Management Agencies, and it says how one comes into existence:
“A group of municipalities or a group of counties may execute an intergovernmental contract among
themselves to form and become members of an interlocal risk management agency.”O.C.G.A. § 36-85-2(a)
So a Georgia risk pool is not a company somebody started. It is a thing that exists because local
governments signed an intergovernmental contract to create it, under a statute written for that
purpose.
The Georgia Municipal Association runs GIRMA as its property and liability program. GMA’s own page
says who may join, and the list is entirely municipal:
“You are eligible for the GIRMA fund if you are a: Municipality, Municipal authority, Municipal
commission, Regional commission, Municipal school district with an average daily student population
of at least 2,800.”Georgia Municipal Association, Property and Liability Insurance service details
The same page lists what the fund covers. One of the lines is law enforcement liability.
Sources:
O.C.G.A.
§ 36-85-2 and GMA
Property & Liability Insurance service details.
The regulation that does the most work
Here is the sentence that matters more than any other on this page, and almost nobody quotes it:
“A public entity, in providing any aid, benefit, or service, may not, directly or through
contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, on the basis of disability…”28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(1)
The next paragraph says it again about how a public entity administers things:
“A public entity may not, directly or through contractual or other arrangements, utilize criteria
or methods of administration:”28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(3)
Whatever else is arguable, that phrase is not. The regulation contemplates a public entity acting
through contracts, and addresses that situation on purpose. A city does not stop being a city because
the person who answers your email works for someone else.
Source: 28 C.F.R.
§ 35.130, Cornell Legal Information Institute.
So what is the answer
I am not going to give you one, because it is a question for a lawyer and for courts working on
specific facts, and this site does not hand out legal conclusions dressed up as reporting.
What I can tell you is the shape of it. There are three bodies in the chain. The city is plainly a
public entity. The pool exists because cities signed a contract under a Georgia statute written for
local governments, and the ADA’s definition of public entity reaches instrumentalities of local
government. The administrator is a private company, and the regulation expressly addresses a public
entity acting through contractual arrangements.
That is three doors, and at least one of them has to lead somewhere. That is the part I would have
accepted. Any one of the three telling me, in one sentence, who to write to.
The practical answer I got
I asked, in writing, four times between March 13 and April 12, 2026, for an ADA contact. I asked
the claims administrator. I asked the supervisor. I copied the association’s chief executive. On
April 14 I sent a certified Title II notice with eleven exhibits.
One mailbox returned a read receipt at 4:41 PM the same afternoon. No reply followed it.
No ADA coordinator was identified. No grievance procedure was provided. On May 1, outside counsel
for the association and the pool answered a request for disability access by describing my emails as
having “crossed into the realm of harassment.”
So the practical answer, as distinct from the legal one, is that the obligation appears to fall
down the gap between the three of them. The city says talk to the pool. The pool speaks through the
administrator. The administrator is a private company. And a disabled person is standing at the
bottom of that with a question nobody claims.
The full GIRMA, GMA and Gallagher Bassett
record . The claim handling record
What it costs to ask this question four times
Every one of those requests was produced with voice software, because I cannot use my hand to type.
A question that should take one line to answer took four written requests, a certified notice, eleven
exhibits, and a letter calling it harassment. The people least able to absorb that cost are the people
the statute was written for. That is not incidental to the question on this page. It is the question.
If you are asking this about your own state
Most states have some version of this structure, and the names differ. Two free routes accept
complaints and neither requires you to settle the coverage question first.
- Your state ADA coordinator’s office. In Georgia, that office answered my
questions about this record point by point, in writing, on May 13, 2026. It is on this site because
it did. The State ADA Coordinator’s Office - Your state insurance regulator, if a claims administrator is involved. It is free
and it does not require the administrator to finish with you first.
How that route works - The U.S. Department of Justice ADA complaint
route. ADA.gov says its initial review may take up to three months.
Two practical things, from experience rather than advice. Ask who the covered entity is, in
writing, of each body in the chain: whoever answers has told you something useful, and so has whoever
does not. And keep the wording of the request identical every time, because identical wording across
four emails makes “we did not understand the request” unavailable to anybody later.
The plain language map of the federal materials is here, with every link
going to the government’s own page.
Where this stands
As of September 7, 2026, no ADA coordinator has been identified for the pool or the administrator,
and no grievance procedure for a disability access complaint about claim handling has been provided.
The consumer complaint opened with the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance on May 20, 2026 has
had no substantive update since June 16, 2026.
The threshold question in the title of this page has still never been answered by anyone required
to answer it.
Corrections: this is built from documents I received. If any fact is incomplete
or inaccurate, identify the page, the sentence, and the supporting document, and I will review and
correct the record.
I have invited GIRMA, GMA, and Gallagher Bassett to identify any inaccuracy on
this page. As of the date above, none has been identified.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Georgia risk pool have to comply with the ADA?
That is a question for a lawyer and for courts on specific facts, and this page does not answer it. What the authorities say is this. ADA Title II covers a “department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality” of a local government, at 42 U.S.C. 12131(1). A Georgia interlocal risk management agency is formed when “a group of municipalities or a group of counties may execute an intergovernmental contract among themselves,” at O.C.G.A. 36-85-2(a). And 28 C.F.R. 35.130(b)(1) says a public entity may not discriminate “directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements.”
What is GIRMA?
The Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency, the Georgia Municipal Association’s property and liability program for eligible Georgia local governments. GMA’s own page says eligibility is limited to a municipality, municipal authority, municipal commission, regional commission, or municipal school district with an average daily student population of at least 2,800. Its coverage lines include law enforcement liability.
Does hiring a private claims administrator remove a city’s ADA obligation?
The regulation at 28 C.F.R. 35.130(b)(1) addresses a public entity acting “directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements,” so it plainly contemplates the situation. Whether that resolves any particular dispute is a question for a lawyer.
Who do I write to if nobody will identify an ADA contact?
Your state ADA coordinator’s office and, where a claims administrator is involved, your state insurance regulator. Both are free and neither requires the institution to answer you first. The U.S. Department of Justice also accepts ADA complaints about state and local government.
What happened when this question was asked in writing?
Four written requests for an ADA contact between March 13 and April 12, 2026, then a certified Title II notice with eleven exhibits on April 14. One read receipt at 4:41 PM on April 6, and no reply. No coordinator identified and no grievance procedure provided. On May 1, 2026 outside counsel described the requests as having “crossed into the realm of harassment.”