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2018 Georgia Code 17-6-11 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 17-6-11 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 17-6-11

TITLE 17 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Section 6. Bonds and Recognizances, 17-6-1 through 17-6-114.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

17-6-11. Display of driver's license for violation of certain traffic related laws; notice of failure to appear; suspension of license; arrest; seizure of license.

    1. When an individual is apprehended by an officer for the violation of the laws of this state or ordinances relating to the offenses listed in paragraph (2) of this subsection, he or she may display his or her driver's license and be issued a uniform traffic citation in lieu of being:
      1. Brought before the proper magistrate or other judicial officer;
      2. Incarcerated;
      3. Ordered to post a bond; or
      4. Ordered a recognizance for his or her appearance for trial.
    2. This subsection shall apply to any violation:
      1. Of Title 40 except any offense:
        1. For which a driver's license may be suspended for a first offense by the commissioner of driver services;
        2. Covered under Code Section 40-5-54; or
        3. Covered under Article 15 of Chapter 6 of Title 40;
      2. Involving the width, height, and length of vehicles and loads;
      3. Involving motor common carriers and motor contract carriers;
      4. Involving hazardous materials transportation; or
      5. Involving road taxes on motor carriers as provided in Article 2 of Chapter 9 of Title 48.
    3. The apprehending officer shall include the individual's driver's license number on the uniform traffic citation. The uniform traffic citation, duly served as provided in this Code section, shall give the judicial officer jurisdiction to dispose of the matter.
    4. Upon display of the driver's license, the apprehending officer shall release the individual so charged for his or her further appearance before the proper judicial officer as required by the uniform traffic citation.
    1. When a uniform traffic citation is issued and if the accused fails to appear for court or otherwise dispose of his or her charges before his or her scheduled court appearance as stated on the uniform traffic citation, prior to the court issuing a bench warrant, the clerk of court shall notify the accused by first-class mail or by postcard at the address listed on the uniform traffic citation of his or her failure to appear. Such notice shall be dated and allow the accused 30 days from such date to dispose of his or her charges or waive arraignment and plead not guilty. If after the expiration of such 30 day period the accused fails to dispose of his or her charges or waive arraignment and plead not guilty, the clerk of court in which the charges are lodged shall, within five days of such date, forward to the Department of Driver Services the accused's driver's license number. The commissioner of driver services shall, upon receipt of such driver's license number, suspend such accused's driver's license and driving privilege until notified by the clerk of court that the charge against the accused has been finally adjudicated. Such accused's driver's license shall be reinstated when he or she submits proof of the final adjudication and pays to the Department of Driver Services a restoration fee of $50.00 or $25.00 when such reinstatement is processed by mail.
    2. This subsection shall not apply to any violation of Title 40:
      1. For which a driver's license may be suspended for a first offense by the commissioner of driver services;
      2. Covered under Code Section 40-5-54; or
      3. Covered under Article 15 of Chapter 6 of Title 40.

        (b.1)It shall be the duty of a law enforcement officer or emergency medical technician responding to the scene of any motor vehicle accident or other accident involving a fatal injury to examine immediately the driver's license of the victim to determine the victim's wishes concerning organ donation. If the victim has indicated that he or she wishes to be an organ donor, it shall be the duty of such law enforcement officer or emergency medical technician to take appropriate action to ensure, if possible, that the victim's organs shall not be imperiled by delay in verification by the donor's next of kin.

  3. Nothing in this Code section bars any law enforcement officer from arresting or from seizing the driver's license of any individual possessing a fraudulent license or a suspended license or operating a motor vehicle while his or her license is suspended, outside the scope of a driving permit, or without a license.
  4. The commissioner of driver services shall be authorized to promulgate reasonable rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this Code section and to establish agreements with other states whereby a valid license from that state may be accepted for purposes of this Code section.

(Ga. L. 1973, p. 435, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1976, p. 213, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 759, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1136, §§ 3, 6; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1607, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 542, § 3; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 17; Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 17; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1776, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1624, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 12-1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 334, § 7-3/HB 501; Ga. L. 2011, p. 479, § 4/HB 112; Ga. L. 2017, p. 608, § 1/SB 176.)

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, in subsection (a), redesignated the existing language as individual paragraphs and made related capitalization changes; deleted "or" at the end of paragraph (a)(4); added paragraphs (a)(5) through (a)(7); and redesignated former paragraph (a)(5) as paragraph (a)(8).

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, rewrote subsections (a) and (b).

Cross references.

- Transportation of hazardous materials, § 40-1-20.

Prosecution of traffic offenses generally, T. 40, C. 13.

Search and notification for information identifying donor status, § 44-5-150.

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, "Code Section" was deleted preceding "40-6-10" in the first sentence in subsection (a) (now paragraph (a)(1)) and a comma was inserted following "license" in the first sentence in subsection (b).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Notice provisions comport with due process.

- This section is not violative of the due process clause of either the federal or state Constitutions for failure to provide a second notice when the license is forwarded to the Department of Public Safety for suspension. Jones v. State, 241 Ga. 178, 243 S.E.2d 872 (1978).

Suspended Florida license could not be surrendered in lieu of bail.

- Defendant, who was arrested for driving with a suspended Florida driver's license, was not entitled to surrender that license in lieu of bail and thereby avoid impoundment of the defendant's vehicle. Pierce v. State, 194 Ga. App. 481, 391 S.E.2d 3 (1990).

Driver adequately stated claim against recorder's court.

- Driver adequately stated a claim against a recorder's court judge under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in alleging that the judge had actual knowledge of repeated instances where the court clerks caused innocent people to be arrested, yet did nothing to correct the problems in the court; the judge was not entitled to judicial immunity for administrative tasks. Schroeder v. DeKalb County, 341 Ga. App. 748, 802 S.E.2d 277 (2017).

Cited in Thomason v. Harper, 162 Ga. App. 441, 289 S.E.2d 773 (1982); Young v. City of Atlanta, 631 F. Supp. 1498 (N.D. Ga. 1986).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Duties to facilitate organ donations under O.C.G.A. § 17-6-12(b.1) must be performed harmoniously with the coroner's duty to take charge of the body of a fatally injured individual under O.C.G.A. § 45-16-24. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-13.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 8A Am. Jur. 2d, Bail and Recognizance, § 77 et seq.

C.J.S.

- 8 C.J.S., Bail; Release and Detention Pending Proceedings, §§ 144, 145.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 17-6-11

Total Results: 6  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Spann v. Davis, 866 S.E.2d 371 (Ga. 2021).

Cited 11 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 23, 2021 | 312 Ga. 843

...In other words, we look to the particular act’s relation to a general function normally performed by a judge.” Id. at 397-98 (2) (cleaned up). In Withers, we held that the act of reporting the failure to appear for a traffic citation was a duty imposed on judges in large part because at that time OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) provided that “[t]he court in which the charges are lodged shall immediately forward to [the Department of Driver Services (‘DDS’)] ....
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Withers v. Schroeder, 819 S.E.2d 49 (Ga. 2018).

Cited 11 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Sep 10, 2018 | 304 Ga. 394

...Moreover, he asserted, the court staff falsely informed the Georgia Department of Driver Services [ (DDS) ] that [appellee] had failed to appear for his hearing, that he had failed to pay his fine, and that his driving privilege should be suspended. See OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) [ (2011).]. In his complaint, [appellee] alleged that on August 9, 2013, an officer with the *51Rockdale County Sheriff's Office arrested [appellee] for driving on a suspended license and took him into custody....
...Sparkman, 435 U.S. at 362, 98 S.Ct. 1099 ). Here there is no question that appellee was dealing with the recorder's court as part of its official function of adjudicating traffic offenses. Furthermore, when the above-described events occurred, OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (2011) provided in relevant part as follows: The court in which the charges are lodged shall immediately forward to [DDS] ......
...to exercise within their lawful jurisdiction untrammeled determination without apprehension of subsequent damage suits. Hill v. Bartlett, 126 Ga. App. 833, 840, 192 S.E.2d 427 (1972). (Punctuation omitted.) 214 Ga. App. at 812, 449 S.E.2d 163. OCGA § 17-6-11 was substantially amended in 2017. See Ga. L. 2017, pp. 608-609, § 1. Most significantly, the statute now provides that the "clerk of court" rather than the "court" is tasked with making reports to DDS. See OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (1) (2017). This is in contrast to the situation in Forrester v....
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Stanley v. Patterson, 878 S.E.2d 529 (Ga. 2022).

Cited 6 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Sep 20, 2022 | 314 Ga. 582

...support the conclusion that Appellees’ acts in this case are protected by judicial immunity. As an initial matter, the court administrator in Withers was carrying out a duty specifically assigned to the court by statute. Moreover, Withers made no distinction between the 5 OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (2011) required that “[t]he court . . . shall immediately forward to the [DDS] . . . the driver’s license number if the person fails to appear and answer the charge against him or her.” OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (1) was subsequently amended in 2017 to require that “[i]f ....
...the driver’s license number, a decision involving some measure of discretion. Specifically, the court’s obligation to report the driver’s license number only arose if the accused did not “appear and answer to the charge” against them, OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (2011), and whether the accused did so was a matter for judicial determination. Cf....
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Phillips v. Jackson, Judge, 877 S.E.2d 185 (Ga. 2022).

Cited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Aug 9, 2022 | 314 Ga. 347

...We agree and affirm, albeit identifying a different legal remedy than did the habeas court. According to undisputed allegations in his habeas petition and record evidence, Phillips was issued a speeding citation under OCGA § 40-6-181. As provided in OCGA § 17-6-11 (a), he displayed his driver’s license in lieu of being arrested, incarcerated, or ordered to post a bond.1 He tried to enter a negotiated plea to a reduced 1 OCGA § 17-6-11 (a) provides in relevant part as follows: (1) When an individual is apprehended by an officer for the violation of the laws of this state or ordinances relating to the offenses listed in paragraph (2) of this subsect...
...The state court, then, had authority to modify Phillips’s bond, including by removing all conditions other than his appearance in court. This would have restored Phillips to the position he was in before the municipal court acted and so adequately remedied any deficiency in the municipal court’s order. See OCGA § 17-6-11 (a) (4) (“Upon display of the driver’s license, the apprehending officer shall release the individual so charged for his or her further appearance before the proper judicial officer as 6 required b...
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Gay v. Jackson, Judge, 883 S.E.2d 349 (Ga. 2023).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jan 18, 2023 | 315 Ga. 464

...According to the undisputed evidence in the petition and record, Gay received a uniform traffic citation for driving 100 miles per hour in a 60-mile-per-hour zone. When he was cited, he displayed his driver’s license in lieu of being arrested, jailed, or ordered to post bond, as OCGA § 17-6-11 (a) (1) allowed....
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Withers v. Schroeder, 304 Ga. 394 (Ga. 2018).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Sep 10, 2018

...Moreover, he asserted, the court staff falsely informed the Georgia Department of Driver Services [(DDS)] that [appellee] had failed to appear for his hearing, that he had failed to pay his fine, and that his driving privilege should be suspended. See OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) [(2011)]. In his complaint, [appellee] alleged that on August 9, 2013, an officer with the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office arrested [appellee] for driving on a suspended license and took him into custody....
...Here there is no question that appellee was dealing with the recorder’s court as part of its official function of adjudicating traffic offenses. Furthermore, when the above-described 7 events occurred, OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (2011) provided in relevant part as follows: The court in which the charges are lodged shall immediately forward to [DDS] ....
...an interested government agency is a function that is judicial in nature and inherent to the judicial process. See, e.g., Herring v. Gorbey, 2017 WL 5885668 (C) (3) (E.D. Pa. November 27, 2017) (judge performed a judicial act when she 5 OCGA § 17-6-11 was substantially amended in 2017. See Ga. L. 2017, pp. 608-609, § 1. Most significantly, the statute now provides that the “clerk of court” rather than the “court” is tasked with making reports to DDS. See OCGA § 17-6-11 (b) (1) (2017). 6 This is in contrast to the situation in Forrester v....