O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 17-6-56 (2019)

Bail recovery agents; requirements; registration

✓ 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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(a) As used in this Code section and Code Sections 17-6-57 and 17-6-58, the term ‘‘bail recovery agent’’ means any person who performs services or takes action for the purpose of apprehending the principal on a bail bond granted in this state or capturing a fugitive who has escaped from bail in this state for gratuity, benefit, or compensation.

(b) A bail recovery agent must be a United States citizen, 25 years of age or older, and must obtain a license pursuant to Code Section

(c) Any sheriff of a county shall require any professional bondsman who is a resident of or doing business in the sheriff’s county to register his or her bail recovery agents in that county. The professional bondsman must submit to the sheriff, in a form and manner to be determined by the sheriff, a list of all bail recovery agents whose services may be used by such bondsman.

History

Code 1981, § 17-6-56, enacted by Ga. L. 1999, p. 546, § 1.1.

Annotations

Law reviews. - For note on 1999

enactment of §§ 17-6-56 to 17-6-58, see 16 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 106 (1999).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Vicarious liability for failure to register. - When a bond recovery agent was registered as an agent in Fulton County in 2000 but had not renewed that registration for 2001 when the agent apprehended in that county a principal on a bond issued by a professional bondsman who employed the agent, the failure of the county to maintain a system for the registration of individual agents precluded a successful prosecution of the agent for violating O.C.G.A. § 17-6-58, and the agent could

not be held vicariously liable for the bondsman’s alleged failure to register the agent in violation of O.C.G.A. § 17-6-56(c). Additionally, O.C.G.A. § 17-6-58(a) did not provide the agent with fair notice that the agent could be held criminally responsible for acting as a bail recovery agent in Fulton County if the agent failed to renew the agent’s registration in that county. Perkins v. State, 277 Ga. 323, 588 S.E.2d 719 (2003).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2003–2026 · leading case: Perkins v. State, 588 S.E.2d 719 (Ga. 2003).
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Perkins v. State, 588 S.E.2d 719 (Ga. 2003). · cites it 12× “The 1999 legislation also enacted OCGA § 17-6-56 (c), pursuant to which [a]ny sheriff of a county shall require any professional bondsman who is a resident of or doing business in the sheriff’s county to register his or her bail recovery agents in that county.”
State v. Faison (Ga. 2026). · cites it 4× “” OCGA § 17-6-56(a). 2 sent a copy of the revocation letter, and sometime before April 16, 2025, the company informed Faison that until Faison got the Henry County charges cleared, Jam Bonding could not use his services.”
— 17-6-56(a) — 1 case
State v. Faison (Ga. 2026). “” OCGA § 17-6-56(a). 2 sent a copy of the revocation letter, and sometime before April 16, 2025, the company informed Faison that until Faison got the Henry County charges cleared, Jam Bonding could not use his services.”
— 17-6-56(b) — 1 case
State v. Faison (Ga. 2026). “” OCGA § 17-6-56(a). 2 sent a copy of the revocation letter, and sometime before April 16, 2025, the company informed Faison that until Faison got the Henry County charges cleared, Jam Bonding could not use his services.”
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.