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O.C.G.A. § 27-5-8 — Seizure of wild animals as contraband; civil action to recover animals | Georgia Code
O.C.G.A. § 27-5-8 (2018) Copy Cite Official Site Syfertize CourtListener Scholar Amendments

TITLE 27 GAME AND FISH

Section 5. Wild Animals, 27-5-1 through 27-5-12.

ARTICLE 7 LIMITED LIABILITY OF OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF SPORT FISHING LOCATIONS

27-5-8. Seizure of wild animals as contraband; civil action to recover animals.

  1. Peace officers authorized to enforce this chapter may seize as contraband any wild animal for which a permit or license, or both, is required and for which no permit or license, or both, has been obtained.
  2. When any peace officer authorized to enforce this chapter has seized as contraband any wild animal, he shall deliver the same to the department. To recover such wild animal, the owner or the person in possession of the wild animal at the time of seizure may file, in the state or superior court having jurisdiction in the county where the seizure was made, a civil action against the State of Georgia, Department of Natural Resources, within 30 days following such seizure. The person filing the action shall have the burden of proof of showing that the wild animal was not held in violation of this title, and the action shall be tried as other civil cases in such court. The wild animal for which the action has been filed shall be held pending the resolution of the action. Reasonable charges for storage shall be paid to the department by the owner and the person in possession of the wild animal at the time of seizure unless it is determined that the seizure was unlawful.

(Code 1933, § 45-1104.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1979, p. 1094, § 14; Ga. L. 1985, p. 913, § 5.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Seizure of fish based on warrant.

- Where fish were seized from a hatchery owner under a warrant issued by the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, there was a deprivation of property by way of an established state criminal procedure, the implementation of which was authorized by an official act, and the owner had a claim for pre-deprivation denial of due process, notwithstanding the availability of a post-deprivation remedy under O.C.G.A. § 27-5-8. Blue Ridge Mt. Fisheries, Inc. v. Department of Natural Resources, 217 Ga. App. 89, 456 S.E.2d 651 (1995).

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