O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 40-5-54 (2019)

Mandatory suspension of license; notice of suspension

✓ 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) The department shall forthwith suspend, as provided in Code Section 40-5-63, the license of any driver upon receiving a record of such driver’s conviction of the following offenses, whether charged as a violation of state law or of a local ordinance adopted pursuant to Article 14 of Chapter 6 of this title: (1) Homicide by vehicle, as defined by Code Section 40-6-393; (2) Any felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used; (3) Hit and run or leaving the scene of an accident in violation of Code Section 40-6-270; (4) Racing on highways and streets; (5) Using a motor vehicle in fleeing or attempting to elude an officer; or (6) Operating a motor vehicle with a revoked, canceled, or suspended registration in violation of Code Section 40-6-15. (b) All judges of all courts having jurisdiction of the offenses set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section shall, at the time of sentencing, give notice to the defendant on forms prescribed by the department of the suspension of the defendant’s driver’s license. The period of suspension shall be determined by the department for the term authorized by law. The court shall forward the notice of suspension and the defendant’s driver’s license to the department within ten days from the date of conviction. The department shall notify the defendant of the period of suspension at the address provided by the defendant.

History

Ga. L. 1939, p. 135, § 10; Ga. L. 1943, p. 196, § 5; Ga. L. 1951, p. 565, § 7A; Ga. L. 1956, p. 543, § 15; Ga. L. 1957, p. 124, § 4; Ga. L. 1964, p. 225, § 3; Ga. L. 1968, p. 430, § 8; Ga. L. 1971, p. 249, § 1; Code

1933, § 68B-305, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1073, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1000, § 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1082, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 897, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1284, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 940, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951,

§ 5-16; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1024, § 4; Ga. L. 2004, p. 749, § 7; Ga. L. 2011, p. 355, § 4/HB 269; Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 4-13/SB 100.

Annotations

Cross references. Drag racing, § 40-6-186. Laying drags, § 40-6-251. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2002, p. 1024, § 7, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective November 1, 2002; provided, however, that the Act shall be effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval for the purposes of the authority of the commissioner to adopt rules and regulations and to employ staff

and expend moneys within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for such purpose.” Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 6-1/SB 100, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Section 4-9 of Part IV of this Act shall become effective on January 1, 2016, and all other parts of this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2015, and shall apply to offenses which occur on or after that date.” Law reviews. For article on the effect on receiving government-issued licenses after a conviction based on a nolo contendere plea, see 13 Ga. L. Rev. 723 (1979).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Editor’s notes. - In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under Ga. L. 1937, p. 322 are included in the annotations for this Code section. Defendant’s driver’s license was properly suspended after the defendant pled guilty to and received sentences as a first offender for two counts of homicide by vehicle in the first degree and one count of driving with ability impaired by alcohol. Salomon v. Earp, 190 Ga. App. 405, 379 S.E.2d 217, 1989 Ga. App. LEXIS 267

(1989), overruled on other grounds, Pender v. Witcher, 196 Ga. App. 856, 397 S.E.2d 193, 1990 Ga. App. LEXIS 1094 (1990). Conviction in a city court of driving under the influence was sufficient to authorize revocation of the license of the driver to operate an automobile. Watson v. Department of Pub. Safety, 66 Ga. App. 633, 18 S.E.2d 789, 1942 Ga. App. LEXIS 255 (1942) (decided under Ga. L. 1937, p. 322).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Reporting of convictions. - Convictions for violations of O.C.G.A. §§ 40-6-391(2), (4), (6), and 40-5-151 should be reported by the superior court clerk to Department of Driver Services (DDS) and violations of O.C.G.A.

§§ 16-13-30(b), 16-13-31, and 16-13-31.1 should be reported to DDS only upon the clerk’s determination that the conviction meets the mandate of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-54(a)(2). 2017 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 17-4.

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, §§ 119, 143 et seq. Am. Jur. Proof of Facts. Identification of Hit-And-Run Vehicle and Driver, 60 POF3d 91. ALR. What amounts to conviction or adjudication of guilt for purposes of

refusal, revocation, or suspension of automobile driver’s license, 79 A.L.R.2d 866. Regulations establishing a “Point System” as regards suspension or revocation of license of operator of motor vehicle, 5 A.L.R.3d 690. Necessity and sufficiency of showing in a criminal prosecution under a “hit-and-

MOTOR VEHICLES & TRAFFIC

run” statute accused’s knowledge of accident, injury, or damage, 23 A.L.R.3d 497; 26 A.L.R.5th 1. Construction and application of “amnesty” provision whereby automobile

driver leaving scene of accident may report to police within stated time without risk of use of his report against him, 36 A.L.R.4th 907.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1986–2022 · leading case: Phillips v. Jackson, Judge, 877 S.E.2d 185 (Ga. 2022).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Phillips v. Jackson, Judge, 877 S.E.2d 185 (Ga. 2022). · cites it 4× “(2) This subsection shall apply to any violation: (A) Of Title 40 except any offense: (i) For which a driver’s license may be suspended for a first offense by the commissioner of driver services; (ii) Covered under Code Section 40-5-54 . . . . (3) The apprehending officer shall…”

Salomon v. Earp, 379 S.E.2d 217 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 4× “Under OCGA § 40-5-54 (a) (l) 1 and OCGA § 40-5-63 (f), the department must suspend under OCGA § 40-5-63 the license of any driver upon receiving a record of such driver’s conviction of homicide by vehicle, as defined in OCGA § 40-6-393.”

State v. Rocco, 384 S.E.2d 183 (Ga. 1989). · cites it 2× “Under OCGA § 40-5-63 (a) (2), a person’s driver’s license is suspended for three years upon the second conviction of an offense listed in OCGA § 40-5-54 within five years, and for the purposes of OCGA § 40-5-63 (a) (2), a plea of nolo contendere shall constitute a conviction.”

Hardison v. Booker, 347 S.E.2d 681 (Ga. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 4× “Under OCGA § 40-5-54, a license is automatically suspended upon conviction of one of a number of listed offenses, and the third such conviction in five years results in a mandatory revocation of the license.”

Miles v. Shaw, 532 S.E.2d 373 (Ga. 2000). · cites it 2× “3 As noted above, appellee was convicted of attempting to elude police officers, and OCGA § 40-5-54 (a) (5) states that DPS “shall.”

Wilson v. Miles, 463 S.E.2d 381 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 40-5-58 (a) currently states that “[a]s used in this Code section, ‘habitual violator’ means any person who has been arrested and convicted within the United States three or more times within a five-year period of time, as measured from the dates of previous arrests for…”

Dozier v. Jackson, 638 S.E.2d 337 (Ga. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 2× “The License Suspension Statute provides that “[t]he driver’s license of any person convicted of an offense listed in Code Section 40-5-54 or of violating [the DUI Statute].”

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.