TITLE 17 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

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

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

17-6-12. Discretion of court to release person charged with crime on person's own recognizance only; effect of failure of person charged to appear for trial.

1. As used in this Code section, the term "bail restricted offense" means the person is charged with:
   1. A serious violent felony as such term is defined in Code Section 17-10-6.1; or
   2. A felony offense of:
      1. Aggravated assault;
      2. Aggravated battery;
      3. Hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree;
      4. Aggravated stalking;
      5. Child molestation;
      6. Enticing a child for indecent purposes;
      7. Pimping;
      8. Robbery;
      9. Bail jumping;
      10. Escape;
      11. Possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain crimes;
      12. Possession of firearms by convicted felons and first offender probationers;
      13. Trafficking in cocaine, illegal drugs, marijuana, or methamphetamine;
      14. Participating in criminal street gang activity;
      15. Habitual violator; or
      16. Driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicating substances.
2. A person charged with a bail restricted offense shall not be released on bail on his or her own recognizance for the purpose of entering a pretrial release program, a pretrial release and diversion program as provided for in Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 42, or a pretrial intervention and diversion program as provided for in Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 15, or pursuant to Uniform Superior Court Rule 27, unless an elected magistrate, elected state or superior court judge, or other judge sitting by designation under the express written authority of such elected judge, enters a written order to the contrary specifying the reasons why such person should be released upon his or her own recognizance.
3. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section and in addition to other laws regarding the release of an accused person, the judge of any court having jurisdiction over a person charged with committing an offense against the criminal laws of this state shall have authority, in his or her sound discretion and in appropriate cases, to authorize the release of the person upon his or her own recognizance only.
4. Upon the failure of a person released on his or her own recognizance to appear for trial, if the release is not otherwise conditioned by the court, absent a finding of sufficient excuse to appear, the court shall summarily issue an order for his or her arrest which shall be enforced as in cases of forfeited bonds.

(Ga. L. 1969, p. 72, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 2010, p. 226, § 2/HB 889; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 17/HB 142; Ga. L. 2017, p. 417, § 2-1/SB 104; Ga. L. 2018, p. 550, § 2-5/SB 407; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1112, § 17/SB 365.)

The 2011 amendment, effective May 13, 2011, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subparagraph (a)(2)(C).

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, substituted "hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree" for "hijacking a motor vehicle" in subparagraph (a)(2)(C).

The 2018 amendments. The first 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, in subsection (b), inserted "as provided for in Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 42" near the middle, deleted "or Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 42," following "Title 15,", and inserted ", or other judge sitting by designation under the express written authority of such elected judge," near the end; and, in subsection (d), deleted "only" following "recognizance", inserted "absent a finding of sufficient excuse to appear,", and substituted "shall" for "may" near the middle. The second 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 42" for "Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 42" in the middle of subsection (b).