O.C.G.A. § 17-10-34 (2019)
Sentence to specify time period for and place of execution; appointing time period for execution of pregnant female
When a person is sentenced to the punishment of death, the court shall specify the time period for the execution in the sentence. The time period for the execution fixed by the court shall be seven days in duration and shall commence at noon on a specified date and shall end at noon on a specified date. The time period shall commence not less than 20 days nor more than 60 days from the date of sentencing. However, if the person is a female who is pregnant at the time of sentencing, the court shall appoint a time period for execution after the female is no longer pregnant.
History
Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 840; Code 1863, § 4555; Code 1868, § 4575; Code 1873, § 4669; Code
1882, § 4669; Penal Code 1895, § 1044; Penal Code 1910, § 1070; Code 1933, § 27-2519; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1463, § 1.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Fixing new date for unexecuted sentence. - When the day fixed by the trial court for the execution of a capital sentence has passed, and the sentence for any reason whatever has not been executed, it is the duty of the judge of the superior court in which the sentence of death was imposed, either in term or in
vacation by an order as prescribed by law, to name and fix a new date for the execution of the capital sentence. Gore v. Humphries, 163 Ga. 106, 135 S.E. 481 (1926). Cited in Meyers v. Whittle, 171 Ga. 509, 156 S.E. 120 (1930).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Authority of court. - Courts may only exercise those powers which are expressly delegated to the courts in setting time or place for execution. 1980 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 80-86. Fixing new date for execution when original date passed. - If the date for the execution of a convict in a capital case has passed for any reason, the judge has the power to set a new date for the execu-
tion of the original sentence, but the Department of Offender Rehabilitation (now Department of Corrections) is not bound by further, more specific time limitations which such court might impose and the department may exercise broad discretion in establishing the specific hour of execution on the date specified. 1980 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 80-86.
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 21 Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, § 718 et seq. C.J.S. - 24 C.J.S., Criminal Procedure and Rights of the Accused, § 2420 et seq.
ALR. - Effect of permitting day fixed for execution to pass without carrying out sentence, 34 A.L.R. 314.