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

O.C.G.A. § 40-5-56 (2019)

Suspension of license or driving privilege for failure to respond to citation; reinstatement of license

✓ 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) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter or any other law to the contrary and unless otherwise ordered by the court, the department shall suspend the driver’s license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state of any person who has failed to respond to a citation to appear before a court of competent jurisdiction in this state or in any other state for a traffic violation other than a parking violation. The department shall include language in the uniform traffic citation stating that failure to appear and respond to such citation may result in the suspension of the violator’s driver’s license or nonresident driving privilege. The language reflected on a uniform traffic citation issued in this state shall be sufficient notice of said suspension to support a conviction for a violation of Code Section 40-5-121 if such person drives subsequent to the imposition of such a suspension following his or her failure to appear; provided, however, that the department shall send notice of any suspension imposed pursuant to this Code section via certified mail or certificate of mailing to the

MOTOR VEHICLES & TRAFFIC

address reflected on its records as the person’s mailing address. For purposes of this subsection, the term “certificate of mailing” means a delivery method utilized by the United States Postal Service which provides evidence that an item has been sent and the date such item was accepted. (b) The suspension provided for in this Code section shall be for an indefinite period until such person has scheduled a new date to appear before the court pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 17-6-11; has made an appearance in court through hearing, arraignment, or waiver of arraignment and entry of a plea; the charge against the accused has been finally adjudicated; or the court otherwise orders such person’s driver’s license be reinstated. Such person’s license shall be reinstated when the department receives proof of payment of any fines and penalties, an order of reinstatement by the court and payment of the applicable restoration fee of $100.00 or $90.00 when such reinstatement is processed by mail to the department, unless such fee is waived by the court or otherwise as provided by law. Such suspension shall be in addition to any other suspension or revocation provided for in this chapter.

History

Code 1933, § 68B-316, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 1452, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1049, § 2; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1000, § 4; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 40; Ga. L. 1986, p. 184, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 897, § 2; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 40; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 5-18; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 4; Ga. L. 2006, p. 449, § 6/HB 1253; Ga. L. 2008, p. 171, § 5/HB 1111; Ga. L. 2009, p. 679, § 3/HB 160; Ga. L. 2010, p. 932, § 12/HB 396; Ga. L. 2020, p. 199, § 13/HB 463; Ga. L. 2022, p. 753, § 4/SB 10; Ga. L. 2024, p. 560, § 7/HB 926, effective May 2, 2024. Amendments. The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, in subsection (a), inserted “and unless otherwise ordered by the court” to the first sentence and substituted “may” for “shall” in the second sentence; and, in subsection (b), added “or the court orders such person’s driver’s license be reinstated” at the end of the first sentence, and, in the second sentence, substituted “when the department receives proof of payment of any fines and penalties or

order of reinstatement by the court and the person pays the applicable” for “if the person submits proof of payment of the fine from the court of jurisdiction and pays a” and added “, unless such fee is waived by the court or otherwise as provided by law” at the end. The 2024 amendment, effective May 2, 2024, in subsection (b), substituted “has scheduled a new date to appear before the court pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 17-6-11; has made an appearance in court through hearing, arraignment, or waiver of arraignment and entry of a plea; the charge against the accused has been finally adjudicated; or the court otherwise” for “person shall respond and pay any fines and penalties imposed or the court” in the first sentence, and in the second sentence, substituted “penalties, an order” for “penalties or order” and “payment of” for “the person pays”.

Annotations

Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2024, p. 560, § 1/HB 926, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Second Chance Workforce Act.’”

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Driving on erroneously suspended license. - If the person is driving despite notification that the person’s license has been suspended, the person is flaunting the law even if the reasons underlying the person’s suspension were erroneously forwarded to the department. Smith v. State, 187 Ga. App. 322, 370 S.E.2d 185, 1988 Ga. App. LEXIS 686 (1988). Collateral attack not permissible. - When there is no evidence that the defendant requested a hearing on the suspension of the defendant’s license after

receipt of the notices of proposed suspension, the defendant waived the right to a hearing to contest the suspension, and the reasons for the suspension set forth on notices of suspension admitted in evidence made the suspension valid on the suspension’s face so that an attack on the validity of the suspension was collateral and was not permissible. Smith v. State, 187 Ga. App. 322, 370 S.E.2d 185, 1988 Ga. App. LEXIS 686 (1988).

RESEARCH REFERENCES C.J.S. 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 418. ALR. Statute providing for judicial review of

administrative order revoking or suspending automobile driver’s license as providing for trial de novo, 97 A.L.R.2d 1379.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1986–2025 · leading case: Johnson v. State, 676 S.E.2d 884 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009).
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Johnson v. State, 676 S.E.2d 884 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 8× “See OCGA § 40-5-56 (a) (“[T]he department shall suspend the driver’s license .”
Allman v. State, 575 S.E.2d 710 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “Three days later, on January 9, Allman went to court, paid the $15 fine for the seat belt violation, and paid a $100 fine for his failure to appear, but he did not pay the fee required by OCGA § 40-5-56 (c) for reinstatement of his license.”
Agnew v. State, 680 S.E.2d 141 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 4× “OCGA § 40-5-56 provided at the time of Agnew’s arrest that the department shall suspend the driver’s license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state of any person who has failed to respond to a citation to appear before a court of competent jurisdiction of this…”
Carter v. State, 395 S.E.2d 891 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 4× “The current statute requires such verification only where the license suspension is the result of a failure to respond to a citation (OCGA § 40-5-56) or an insurance cancellation.”
Smith v. State, 370 S.E.2d 185 (Ga. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 40-5-56 (a) requires the Department of Public Safety to suspend the driver’s license of any person who has failed to respond to a citation to appear before a court of competent jurisdiction for a traffic violation other than a parking violation.”
Higgins v. Dep't of Pub. Saf., 347 S.E.2d 562 (Ga. 1986). · cites it 4× “The Department of Public Safety notified him that it would revoke his license for “failure to respond” under OCGA § 40-5-56 1 unless he paid the fine to the local court or requested a hearing.”
State v. Brooks, 390 S.E.2d 673 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “The current statute requires such verification only where the license suspension is the result of a failure to respond to a citation (OCGA § 40-5-56) or an insurance cancellation.”
Mobley v. State, 557 S.E.2d 488 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 4× “” The record in this case shows that Mobley’s license was suspended under OCGA § 40-5-56 for failing to appear at a hearing for a traffic offense and that the officer arrested him for driving with a suspended license.”
Jordy Joseph Zelaya v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 6× “9 The State argues that Zelaya had received notice of his license suspension by operation of law due to his prior traffic citation, citing OCGA § 40-5-56 (a) (2020).3 Indeed, OCGA § 40-5-56 (a) (2020) sets out a requirement that a traffic citation “shall include language .”
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.