O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 16-3-22 (2019)

Immunity from criminal liability of persons rendering assistance to law enforcement officers

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) Any person who renders assistance reasonably and in good faith to any law enforcement officer who is being hindered in the performance of his official duties or whose life is being endangered by the conduct of any other person or persons while performing his official duties shall be immune to the same extent as the law enforcement officer from any criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed as a result of rendering assistance to the law enforcement officer. (b) The official report of the law enforcement agency shall create a rebuttable presumption of good faith and reasonableness on the part of the person who assists the law enforcement officer. (c) The purpose of this Code section is to provide for those persons who act in good faith to assist law enforcement officers whose health and safety is being adversely affected and threatened by the conduct of any other person or persons. This Code section shall be liberally construed so as to carry out the purposes thereof.

History

Code 1933, § 27-219, enacted by Ga. L. 1967, p. 745, §§ 1, 2.

Annotations

Cross references. - Exercise of power

of arrest by private persons generally, § 17-4-60 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Cited in Carter v. State, 129 Ga. App. 536, 199 S.E.2d 925 (1973). RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 5 Am. Jur. 2d, Arrest, §§ 24, 127. 70 Am. Jur. 2d, Sheriffs, Police, and Constables, §§ 39, 63 et seq. C.J.S. - 22 C.J.S., Criminal Procedure and Rights of the Accused, § 104.

ALR. - Accident insurance: aiding peace officer as voluntary exposure to unnecessary danger, 17 A.L.R. 191.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 2014–2015 · leading case: Williams v. State, 757 S.E.2d 267 (Ga. Ct. App. 2014).
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Williams v. State, 757 S.E.2d 267 (Ga. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 20× “He points to testimony that Brewton had asked him *668 to help her recover the handgun, and cites OCGA § 16-3-22. That statute provides: Any person who renders assistance reasonably and in good faith to any law enforcement officer who is being hindered in the performance of his…”
The State v. Pickens, 769 S.E.2d 594 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “See also OCGA § 16-3-22, which grants immunity from criminal liability to any person “who renders assistance reasonably and in good faith to any law enforcement officer” under certain circumstances.”
Charley Williams v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 16× “5 See OCGA § 16-3-22 (regarding immunity from criminal liability for persons rendering aid to a law enforcement officer under certain circumstances), discussed infra.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.