Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448

2018 Georgia Code 35-3-155 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 35-3-155 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 35-3-155

TITLE 35 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND AGENCIES

Section 3. Georgia Bureau of Investigation, 35-3-1 through 35-3-204.

ARTICLE 6 DIVISION OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

35-3-155. Application of Administrative Procedure Act.

Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, technical, scientific, and similar processes, procedures, guidelines, standards, and methods for the collection, preservation, or testing of evidence adopted by the division shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act."

(Code 1981, §35-3-155, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1421, § 3.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Applicability to case arising before effective date of section.

- O.C.G.A. § 35-3-155, which became effective May 1, 1997, was applicable to a case in which the traffic accident occurred in 1995, but the challenge to the section came before the court after May 1, 1997. Helmeci v. State, 230 Ga. App. 866, 498 S.E.2d 326 (1998); Love v. State, 271 Ga. 398, 517 S.E.2d 53 (1999).

Scope of section.

- Exclusion from the Administrative Procedure Act requirements for technical standards and procedures for the collection and testing of evidence by O.C.G.A. § 35-3-155 includes the procedure by which an officer obtains a Division of Forensic Sciences certificate to operate an Intoximeter 5000. State v. Corriher, 243 Ga. App. 648, 533 S.E.2d 800 (2000).

Georgia Bureau of Investigation's rules.

- Forensic Sciences Division of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is exempt under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-155 from the requirement of O.C.G.A. § 50-13-3(b) that the division publish the division's rules for granting permits for the administration of breath, blood, and urine tests. State v. Bowen, 274 Ga. 1, 547 S.E.2d 286 (2001), reversing State v. Bowen, 245 Ga. App. 159, 537 S.E.2d 417 (2000).

Cited in Mowery v. State, 234 Ga. App. 801, 507 S.E.2d 821 (1998); Berkow v. State, 243 Ga. App. 698, 534 S.E.2d 433 (2000).

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 35-3-155

Total Results: 3  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

Copy

Price v. State, 498 S.E.2d 262 (Ga. 1998).

Cited 84 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 19, 1998 | 269 Ga. 222

...Price challenges the admission of the blood test results on the ground that the Department of Forensic Sciences had not administratively approved the use of the gas chromatograph or standards for its operation and maintenance. Last year, the legislature enacted O.C.G.A. § 35-3-155, which expressly provides that the Department of Forensic Sciences need not seek approval of testing methods and procedures through the Administrative Procedures Act....
Copy

Love v. State, 517 S.E.2d 53 (Ga. 1999).

Cited 46 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 1, 1999 | 271 Ga. 398, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 2084

...CGA § 40-6-392(a)(1)(A). During its 1997 legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed the Forensic Sciences Act, which made the APA inapplicable to the methods of evidence-testing adopted by the GBI's Division of Forensic Sciences. OCGA § 35-3-155....
...Appellant asserts that the 1997 legislation cannot be applied to his 1996 test results, and asserts that we should overrule the appellate holding in Helmeci v. State, 230 Ga.App. 866, 498 S.E.2d 326 (1998), which authorized the retroactive application of the 1997 legislation. [2] While OCGA § 35-3-155 was passed after the commission of the offense for which appellant was tried, it did not inflict a greater punishment than was permitted by the law in effect at the time of the offense; it did not make criminal an act which was innocent w...
...The statute did "`nothing more than admit evidence of a particular kind in a criminal case upon an issue of fact which was not admissible under the rules of evidence as enforced by judicial decisions at the time the offense was committed.' [Cit.]" Id. at 751, 187 S.E.2d 831. Accordingly, OCGA § 35-3-155 does not violate ex post facto constitutional provisions and is applicable to the case at bar....
Copy

State v. Bowen, 274 Ga. 1 (Ga. 2001).

Cited 6 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 4, 2001 | 547 S.E.2d 286

...of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Bowen, 245 Ga. App. 159 (537 SE2d 417) (2000). We granted the State’s petition for writ of certiorari and reverse, holding that the division is exempted under OCGA § 35-3-155 from the publishing requirement of the APA. OCGA § 50-13-3 (b) of the APA requires that any “rule, order, or decision” of an agency of the state be “published or made available for public inspection”; and in the absence of such...
...However, [d]uring its 1997 legislative session, the Georgia General *2Assembly passed the Forensic Sciences Act, [OCGA § 35-3-150 et seq.], which made the APA inapplicable to the methods of evidence-testing adopted by the GBI’s Division of Forensic Sciences. OCGA § 35-3-155. Love v. State, 271 Ga. 398, 399 (1) (517 SE2d 53) (1999). The exemption contained in OCGA § 35-3-155 provides: Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, technical, scientific, and similar processes, procedures, guidelines, standards, and methods for the collection, preservation, or testing of evidence adopted by the division shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 13 of Title 50, the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.” In deciding that the issuance of operator permits does not fall within the OCGA § 35-3-155 exception, the trial court looked to OCGA § 52-7-12 (c) (1), a portion of the BUI statute which regulates the methodology of chemical analysis....
...Instead, we adopt *3Judge Eldridge’s dissent and find no rational basis for distinguishing between the evidence-testing methods which were specifically exempted from the APA publishing requirement in Love, supra, and the requirements for issuing operator permits in the present case. In determining whether OCGA § 35-3-155 exempts permitting requirements from the provisions of the APA, we must consider the statute in relation to other statutes of which it is part, i.e., the Georgia Forensic Sciences Act of 1997, OCGA § 35-3-150 et seq....
...In addition, the division is required to promulgate rules and regulations to further these objectives, OCGA § 35-3-154, and to “provide for the training and certification of operators of such breath test equipment.” OCGA § 35-3-154 (3). OCGA § 35-3-155, which follows, exempts from the provisions of the APA the “procedures, guidelines [and] standards ....
...intent, Ryan, supra at 732, we conclude that the publishing requirements for certification of operators fall within the purview of the statutory exemption. Accord State v. Corriher, 243 Ga. App. 648 (533 SE2d 800) (2000).1 Thus, the language of OCGA § 35-3-155 supplies the “cause” to exclude application of the APA....