O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 17-4-3 (2019)

Right of forcible entry into private dwellings pursuant to execution of arrest warrant

✓ 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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In order to arrest under a warrant charging a crime, the officer may break open the door of any house where the offender is concealed.

History

Orig. Code 1863, § 4610; Code 1868, § 4632; Code 1873, § 4729; Code 1882, § 4729; Penal Code 1895,

§ 894; Penal Code 1910, § 915; Code 1933, § 27-205.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS O.C.G.A. § 17-4-3 provides for use of force in entry in execution of arrest warrant. Anderson v. State, 249 Ga. 132, 287 S.E.2d 195 (1982). Notice. - Police officer’s knock and announcement is sufficient notice under O.C.G.A. § 17-4-3 to enter the defendant’s residence and to arrest the defendant. Green v. State, 159 Ga. App. 28, 283 S.E.2d 19 (1981).

Broadscale search not authorized. - Police officers who entered a home while executing an arrest warrant for the homeowner’s son had no authority to conduct a broadscale search looking into cabinets and drawers. Nash v. Douglas County, 733 F. Supp. 100 (N.D. Ga. 1989). Cited in Harris v. State, 157 Ga. App. 367, 278 S.E.2d 52 (1981); Butler v. State, 159 Ga. App. 895, 285 S.E.2d 610 (1981).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 5 Am. Jur. 2d, Arrest, §§ 67 et seq., 92 et seq. C.J.S. - 22 C.J.S., Criminal Procedure and Rights of the Accused, § 106 et seq.

ALR. - Liability of owner or occupant of premises to police officer coming thereon in discharge of officer’s duty, 30 A.L.R.4th 81.

ARTICLE 2 ARREST BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS GENERALLY Cross references. - Arrest powers of campus police and security personnel, § 20-3-72. Failure to comply with Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act, § 35-8-17. Appointment of citizen of adjoining state as peace officer, § 35-8-19. Law reviews. - For article, ‘‘Dead Canaries in the Coal Mines: The Symbolic Assailant Revisited,’’ see 34 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 513 (2018). For article, ‘‘Assessing

the Impact of Police Body Camera Evidence on the Litigation of Excessive Force Cases,’’ see 54 Ga. L. Rev. 1 (2019). For note, ‘‘You have the Right to Free Speech: Retaliatory Arrests and the Pretext of Probable Cause,’’ see 51 Ga. L. Rev. 607 (2017). U.S. Code. - Disposition of criminal cases, 18 U.S.C. § 3165.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1983–1999 · leading case: Brown v. State, 523 S.E.2d 333 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999).

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Brown v. State, 523 S.E.2d 333 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 2× “” OCGA § 17-4-3. Even if this statute has been limited by Steagald , the arrest warrant gave the officers authority to enter Brown’s own premises to arrest him.”

Bennett v. State, 311 S.E.2d 513 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 17-4-3 (Code Ann. § 27-205); Butler v.”

Nash v. Douglas Cnty., 733 F. Supp. 100 (N.D. Ga. 1989). · cites it 2× “Thus, the court concludes that the law officers were reasonable in their belief that William lived at 1875 Mount Vernon. In executing an arrest warrant, the police may enter the premises in which they reasonably believe the suspect lives and is concealed.”

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.