O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-3-72 (2019)

Arrest powers of campus policemen and security personnel

✓ 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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The campus policemen and other security personnel of the university system who are regular employees of the system shall have the power to make arrests for offenses committed upon any property under the jurisdiction of the board of regents and for offenses committed upon any public or private property within 500 yards of any property under the jurisdiction of the board.

History

(Ga. L. 1966, p. 370, § 1; Ga. L. 1974, p. 611, § 1.)

Annotations

Cross references. - Campus police generally, T. 20, C. 8. JUDICIAL DECISIONS Search warrant jurisdiction. - Duly certified campus police officer has the authority to obtain a warrant to search property beyond the territorial limitation on the officer’s power to make an arrest. State v. Harber, 198 Ga. App. 170, 401 S.E.2d 57 (1990), cert. denied, 198 Ga. App. 897, 401 S.E.2d 43 (1991). Within jurisdictional limits. - Trial court was permitted to conclude from the university police officer’s testimony that the intersection, where the accident occurred that the university officer investigated, bordered the campus and that the investigation occurred within 500 yards of the campus as required by O.C.G.A. § 20-3-72. Hawkins v. State, 281 Ga. App. 852, 637 S.E.2d 422 (2006).

Campus police officer could arrest for moving violation more than 500 yards from campus. - Post-certified campus police officer who observed the defendant driving without lights in a heavy rainfall and failing to maintain the defendant’s lane of travel fell within the scope of O.C.G.A. § 17-4-23 and had the power to arrest the defendant even though the offense occurred more than 500 yards from campus; O.C.G.A. § 20-3-72 did not preclude the arrest. State v. Zilke, 333 Ga. App. 344, 773 S.E.2d 489 (2015). Cited in State v. Harber, 198 Ga. App. 170, 401 S.E.2d 57 (1990).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Board determines police agency which investigates crimes. - Determination as to the police agency which is to investigate the commission of crimes on campus is a matter of administrative discretion given to the board of regents. 1970 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 70-69. Campus security personnel considered law enforcement officers. - Campus security personnel, being

charged with enforcing the laws of this state to the extent the laws are violated on university property, should certainly be considered law enforcement officers, and the board of regents, as the agency responsible for the security personnel, is pro tanto a law enforcement agency. 1973 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 73-23. Training and drug testing requirements. - Campus police and other secu-

rity personnel of university system institutions vested with the power to make arrests under O.C.G.A. § 20-3-72 are subject to the mandatory training requirements of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act, O.C.G.A. § 35-8-1 et seq., and are consequently covered by the random drug testing provisions of O.C.G.A. § 45-20-90 et seq. 1990 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 90-11. Enforcement of municipal ordinances. - University system law enforcement officers could enforce municipal ordinances of all kinds within 500 yards of board of regents’ property and could prosecute those cases in any court of this state; however, such officers were not entitled to the statutory witness stipend provided under former O.C.G.A. § 24-10-27(a) (see now O.C.G.A. § 24-13-28). 1993 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 93-20. Municipality’s consent not required for extending jurisdiction over nearby property. - This section does not require municipality consent for the extension of university system police jurisdiction to cover offenses committed upon public or private property within 500 yards of university system property. 1974 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 74-65. There is no legal prohibition against campus police aiding other police jurisdictions upon request; if such assistance is given, the campus police would be acting as agents of the jurisdiction requesting the assistance and the other jurisdiction would be responsible for their actions. 1967 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 67-327.

Flashing or revolving blue lights can be operated on motor vehicles belonging to campus police and security departments of the University System of Georgia; however, these vehicles must belong to the board of regents. 1973 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 73-23. Campus police and security personnel are authorized to intervene in demonstrations conducted on campuses when the activities of the demonstrators constitute offenses against the criminal laws. 1970 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 70-69. Individuals who have arrest powers may conduct searches. - Individuals who have arrest powers on premises under jurisdiction of the board may conduct searches pursuant to Ga. L. 1966, p. 567, § 1 et seq. 1969 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 69-172. Police officer may search person of arrestee and area within person’s immediate control. - In conducting a search without a warrant pursuant to a lawful arrest, the campus police officer may search the person of, and area within the immediate control of, any person over whom the officer has the authority to effect a lawful arrest. 1970 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 70-69. Unauthorized dormitory searches. - College may not rely absolutely on a contractual provision in a dormitory contract to conduct a search of a student’s dormitory room in the absence of a valid warrant or consent. 1994 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 94-13.

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. - Search conducted by school official or teacher as violation of fourth

amendment or equivalent state constitutional provision, 31 ALR5th 229.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1989–2025 · leading case: Zilke v. State, 787 S.E.2d 745 (Ga. 2016).

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Zilke v. State, 787 S.E.2d 745 (Ga. 2016). · cites it 20× “Here, appellant does not contest the traffic stop itself, but contends that Officer Mason had no authority to arrest or gather evidence because of OCGA §20-3-72 which states that campus police officers “shall have the power to make arrests” on campus and within 500 yards of…”

State v. Harber, 401 S.E.2d 57 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 52× “" Relying upon OCGA § 20-3-72 and Op. Atty. Gen. 70-69, it was held "that the legislature [had not] intended to give to University of Georgia campus police and security personnel carte blanche authority to obtain and execute search warrants directed to residences or businesses…”

Willingham v. State, 401 S.E.2d 63 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 28× “Pursuant to OCGA § 20-3-72, university police officers "have the power to make arrests for offenses committed upon any property under the jurisdiction of the board of regents.”

State v. Durr, 618 S.E.2d 117 (Ga. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 12× “The trial court found that the sole basis for the traffic stop was “the Defendant’s alleged weaving within his lane”; that the traffic stop was not initiated until after the officer had followed Durr outside of the officer’s jurisdiction (citing OCGA §§ 20-3-72; 20-8-1; 20-8-2);…”

Sullivan v. State, 706 S.E.2d 618 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “Sullivan cited OCGA § 20-3-72, which concerns personnel of the University of Georgia 4 and states: The campus policemen and other security personnel of the university system who are regular employees of the system shall have the power to make arrests for offenses committed upon…”

Bacon v. The State., 820 S.E.2d 503 (Ga. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “*693 Although Zilke , supra, is not precisely on point because it involved the arrest powers of a campus police officer outside the geographical jurisdiction conferred by statute ( OCGA § 20-3-72 ), we find the Supreme Court's analysis in that case compelling.”

Hawkins v. State, 637 S.E.2d 422 (Ga. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 4× “Hawkins contends that, even if Officer Washington did have the authority to issue a traffic citation, the State failed to prove that the collision occurred within 500 yards of property under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents as required by OCGA § 20-3-72. We find that,…”

Agnes Scott Coll., Inc. v. Hartley., 816 S.E.2d 689 (Ga. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “For example, OCGA § 20-3-72 gives certain arrest powers to "campus policemen and other security personnel" of the University System of Georgia.”

The State v. Zilke, 773 S.E.2d 489 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “In its suppression ruling, the trial court concluded that OCGA § 20-3-72 precludes a POST-certified campus police officer from making an arrest for offenses committed more than 500 yards from campus.”

Brundige v. State, 735 S.E.2d 583 (Ga. 2012). · cites it 2× “(d) Notwithstanding any provisions of Code Section 17-5-20 or other provisions of this Code section to the contrary, with respect to the execution of a search warrant by a certified peace officer employed by a university, college, or school, which search warrant will be executed…”

Hill v. State, 387 S.E.2d 582 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 4× “Held: OCGA § 20-3-72 provides that “[t]he campus policemen and other security personnel of the university system who are regular employees of the system .”

State v. John Andrew Collins (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “See OCGA § 20-3-72. The court construed a former version of OCGA § 17- 4-20 (a) (2) (A), which at that time provided that a law enforcement officer could make a custodial arrest “without a warrant if [t]he offense is committed in such officer’s presence or within such officer’s…”

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.