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

O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120 (2019)

Unlawful use of license or identification card; penalties for violations of chapter generally

✓ 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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It is a misdemeanor for any person to: (1) Display or cause or permit to be displayed or have in his or her possession any canceled, revoked, or suspended driver’s license or identification card issued pursuant to Code Section 40-5-100; (2) Fail or refuse to surrender to the department upon lawful demand any driver’s license or identification card issued pursuant to Code Section 40-5-100 which has been suspended, revoked, disqualified, or canceled; (3) Permit any unlawful use of a driver’s license or identification card issued pursuant to Code Section 40-5-100 issued to such person; (4) Do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required by this chapter for which a criminal sanction is not provided elsewhere in this chapter; or (5) Scan another person’s driver’s license, permit, or identification card without the person’s prior knowledge and consent. If a person consents to the scanning of his or her driver’s license, permit, or identification card, the information collected may be stored and used for any legitimate purpose. Each unlawful act of storage, disclosure, or usage in violation of this paragraph shall be considered a separate violation of this Code section. This prohibition shall not apply to law enforcement officers or any governmental entity that scans a driver’s license, permit, or identification card to verify the contents thereof or to gather information for use for any governmental purpose.

History

Code 1933, § 68B-401, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 519, § 14; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1995, p. 920, § 5; Ga. L. 2010, p. 932, § 20/HB 396; Ga. L. 2024, p. 1052, § 4(58)/SB 448, effective July 1, 2024. Amendments. The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, part of an Act to revise, modern-

ize, and correct the Code, substituted “identification card” for “personal identification card” in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).

Annotations

Cross references. Suspension of driver’s license for conviction for fraudulent or fictitious use of license, § 40-5-54. Use of false name or making false statement in application, § 40-5-125.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Punishment for failure to carry license. - Legislative intent in reducing the punishment for failure of a licensee to have the licensee’s driver’s license in the licensee’s possession when operating a vehicle to a fine of ten dollars precluded imposition of a sentence to a consecutive

12 months’ probation. Crain v. State, 197 Ga. App. 729, 399 S.E.2d 289, 1990 Ga. App. LEXIS 1454 (1990). Fines for misdemeanors. - Paragraph (7) (now paragraph (4)) of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120 makes driving with an expired driver’s license (O.C.G.A.

MOTOR VEHICLES & TRAFFIC

§ 40-5-20(a)) a misdemeanor; and since misdemeanors may be punished by a fine as high as $1,000, a fine of $35.00 is clearly within the statutory limits and not subject to review. Littlejohn v. State, 165 Ga. App. 562, 301 S.E.2d 917, 1983 Ga. App. LEXIS 1951 (1983). Nonissuance of citation does not negate reasonableness of stop. - If an officer stops a vehicle in the good faith belief that a traffic violation has been

committed, the officer’s ultimate failure to issue a traffic citation will not preclude the traffic offense from evincing the reasonable suspicion which served to justify the officer’s initial stop of the vehicle. Once a stop is effected, a defendant is subject to custodial arrest for operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license. State v. Chambers, 194 Ga. App. 609, 391 S.E.2d 657, 1990 Ga. App. LEXIS 266 (1990).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Fingerprinting required. - Any misdemeanor offenses arising under paragraph (5) of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120 are

offenses for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. 2010 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 10-6.

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, § 258 et seq.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1983–2019 · leading case: Castillo-Solis v. State, 740 S.E.2d 583 (Ga. 2013).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Castillo-Solis v. State, 740 S.E.2d 583 (Ga. 2013). · cites it 6× “” A violation of OCGA § 40-5-29 (a) is punished as a misdemeanor, see OCGA § 40-5-120 (4) (default penalty provision for traffic offenses), unless the cited person “produces in court a license theretofore issued to him and valid at the time of his arrest,” in which case the…”
Spivey v. Sellers, 363 S.E.2d 856 (Ga. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “” See also OCGA § 40-5-120 (7). *245 Decided December 4, 1987.”
Littlejohn v. State, 301 S.E.2d 917 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 2× “§ 68B-401 (7) (OCGA § 40-5-120 (7)) makes such a violation a misdemeanor.”
Lechuga v. The State., 831 S.E.2d 851 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “There is nothing in subsection (c) indicating that it also applies to a violation of subsection (b). Since Lechuga pled guilty only to a violation of subsection (b) for failure to display his license, the $10.”
Crain v. State, 399 S.E.2d 289 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 40-5-120 (6) makes it a misdemeanor to violate OCGA § 40-5-29 (a), which requires that a licensee have his or her driver’s license in possession when operating a vehicle.”
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.