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2018 Georgia Code 17-4-20.1 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 17-4-20.1 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 17-4-20.1

TITLE 17 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Section 4. Arrest of Persons, 17-4-1 through 17-4-62.

ARTICLE 2 ARREST BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS GENERALLY

17-4-20.1. Investigation of family violence; preparation of written report; review of report by defendant arrested for family violence; compilation of statistics.

  1. Whenever a law enforcement officer responds to an incident in which an act of family violence, as defined in Code Section 19-13-1, has been committed, the officer shall not base the decision of whether to arrest and charge a person on the specific consent of the victim or on a request by the victim solely or on consideration of the relationship of the parties. No officer investigating an incident of family violence shall threaten, suggest, or otherwise indicate the arrest of all parties for the purpose of discouraging requests for law enforcement intervention.
  2. Where complaints of family violence are received from two or more opposing parties, the officer shall evaluate each complaint separately to attempt to determine who was the primary aggressor.If the officer determines that one of the parties was the primary physical aggressor, the officer shall not be required to arrest any other person believed to have committed an act of family violence during the incident.In determining whether a person is a primary physical aggressor, an officer shall consider:
    1. Prior family violence involving either party;
    2. The relative severity of the injuries inflicted on each person;
    3. The potential for future injury; and
    4. Whether one of the parties acted in self-defense.
  3. Whenever a law enforcement officer investigates an incident of family violence, whether or not an arrest is made, the officer shall prepare and submit to the supervisor or other designated person a written report of the incident entitled "Family Violence Report." Forms for such reports shall be designed and provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The report shall include the following:
    1. Name of the parties;
    2. Relationship of the parties;
    3. Sex of the parties;
    4. Date of birth of the parties;
    5. Time, place, and date of the incident;
    6. Whether children were involved or whether the act of family violence was committed in the presence of children;
    7. Type and extent of the alleged abuse;
    8. Existence of substance abuse;
    9. Number and types of weapons involved;
    10. Existence of any prior court orders;
    11. Type of police action taken in disposition of case, the reasons for the officer's determination that one party was the primary physical aggressor, and mitigating circumstances for why an arrest was not made;
    12. Whether the victim was apprised of available remedies and services; and
    13. Any other information that may be pertinent.
  4. The report provided for in subsection (c) of this Code section shall be considered as being made for statistical purposes only and where no arrests are made shall not be subject to the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50. However, upon request, a defendant who has been arrested for an act of family violence or the victim shall be entitled to review and copy any report prepared in accordance with this Code section relating to the defendant.
  5. Each police department, including local precincts and county sheriff departments, shall report, according to rules and regulations of the Georgia Crime Information Center, all family violence incidents, both arrests and nonarrests, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which shall compile and analyze statistics of family violence crimes and cause them to be published annually in the Georgia Uniform Crime Reports. An offense shall be counted for each incident reported to the police.A zero shall be reported if no incidents have occurred during the reporting period.

(Code 1981, §17-4-20.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1778, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2939, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1186, § 1.)

Administrative Rules and Regulations.

- Uniform Crime Reporting, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Crime Information Center Council, Practice and Procedure, Rule 140-2-.12.

Law reviews.

- For annual survey of local government law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 351 (2004). For note on 1991 enactment of this Code section, see 8 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 43 (1992).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Immunity not granted to officers.

- Officers' duty to investigate a report of family violence pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.1(c) was ministerial and, accordingly, official immunity did not apply as such immunity was only applicable to performance of discretionary functions, unless those functions were undertaken with malice or intent to cause injury pursuant to Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX(d). Meagher v. Quick, 264 Ga. App. 639, 594 S.E.2d 182 (2003).

Officer entitled to immunity for suicide of prisoner.

- In a suit against a county police officer following the suicide death of a prisoner, the appellate court properly reversed the denial of summary judgment to the officer because the officer was entitled to qualified immunity with respect to the screening claim of the prisoner for any mental health issues since compliance with the policy and completion of the screening form was ministerial in nature. Pearce v. Tucker, 299 Ga. 224, 787 S.E.2d 749 (2016).

Investigation was unnecessary when the victim's on-the-scene accusations against the defendant, along with "visible bodily harm" to the victim's face, provided sufficient probable cause to believe that the defendant committed battery. McCracken v. State, 224 Ga. App. 356, 480 S.E.2d 361 (1997).

Failure to file report.

- Officers who investigated a claim of possible child abuse failed in the officers' obligation to file a Family Violence Report, as required by O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.1(c), and the trial court properly denied a motion for summary judgment pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 by the officers and others in a wrongful death claim on behalf of a deceased child as genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the officers' failure to investigate and file the necessary report proximately resulted in the child's injuries and death; the definition of "family violence" was broad under O.C.G.A. § 19-13-1, and although "reasonable discipline" was excepted thereunder, the officers had an obligation to investigate allegations that a child was being whipped. Meagher v. Quick, 264 Ga. App. 639, 594 S.E.2d 182 (2003).

Jury instruction based on subsections (a) and (b) was reversible error.

- Jury charge based on O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.1(a) and (b) was not supported by the evidence because only one of the two parties involved in a domestic dispute reported the incident to law enforcement, and the error was not harmless because the error could have led the jury to conclude that the defendant, who was arrested, was the primary aggressor, and undermined the defense of self-defense, which was not permitted under O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21 if the defendant was the aggressor. Dean v. State, 313 Ga. App. 726, 722 S.E.2d 436 (2012).

Cited in Heller v. City of Atlanta, 290 Ga. App. 345, 659 S.E.2d 617 (2008).

Cases Citing Georgia Code 17-4-20.1 From Courtlistener.com

Total Results: 4

Wyno v. Lowndes Cnty.

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2019-02-18

Citation: 824 S.E.2d 297

Snippet: ]" The statute at issue in that case, OCGA § 17-4-20.1 (c), provides in relevant part that "[w]henever

Pearce v. Tucker

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2016-06-20

Citation: 299 Ga. 224, 787 S.E.2d 749, 2016 WL 3390450, 2016 Ga. LEXIS 419

Snippet: complete a Family Violence Reportas requiredbyOCGA § 17-4-20.1 was ministerial duty). Here, however, is where

Grammens v. Dollar

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2010-07-05

Citation: 697 S.E.2d 775, 287 Ga. 618, 2010 Fulton County D. Rep. 2181, 2010 Ga. LEXIS 516

Snippet: suspected family violence, the written policy (OCGA § 17-4-20.1 (c)) requires the officer to complete a written

State v. Lucious

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 1999-06-14

Citation: 518 S.E.2d 677, 271 Ga. 361, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 2237, 1999 Ga. LEXIS 587

Snippet: Examination of any report prepared under OCGA § 17-4-20.1 about an act of family violence for which the