O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 42-12-4 (2019)

Payment from prisoner’s inmate account for costs and fees of action commenced by prisoner

✓ 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 following provisions shall apply when an indigent prisoner commences an action: (1) The indigent prisoner shall pay the current balance of funds in the prisoner’s inmate account; (2) The clerk of court shall notify the superintendent of the institution in which the prisoner is incarcerated that an action has been filed. Notice to the superintendent shall include: (A) The prisoner’s name, inmate number, and civil action number; and (B) The amount of the court costs and fees due and payable; (3) Upon notification by the clerk of court that an indigent prisoner has commenced an action, the superintendent shall: (A) Immediately freeze the prisoner’s inmate account; and (B) Order that all moneys deposited into the prisoner’s inmate account be forwarded to the clerk until all court costs and fees are satisfied, whereupon the freezing of the account shall be terminated.

History

Code 1981, § 42-12-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 400, § 1.

Annotations

Code Commission notes. Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in

1996, “superintendent” was substituted for “superintendant” in the second sentence of paragraph (2).

42-12-5. In forma pauperis procedure; contents and service of affidavit; judicial determinations. (a)(1) A prisoner’s affidavit of in forma pauperis status shall contain each of the following: (A) The prisoner’s identity, including any and all aliases, and the prisoner’s inmate number; (B) The nature and amount of any income as well as the source of that income; (C) Real and personal property owned by the prisoner; and (D) Cash and checking accounts held by the prisoner. (2) The affidavit shall also contain the following sworn statement and signature of the prisoner: I,

, do swear and affirm under penalty of law

that the statements contained in this affidavit are true. I further attest that this application for in forma pauperis status is not presented to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the costs of litigation. (3) The affidavit shall contain a copy of the prisoner’s inmate account of the last 12 months or the period of incarceration, whichever is less. The institution shall promptly provide said account information upon request. (4) The prisoner shall serve the affidavit, including all attachments, on the court and all named defendants. Failure by the prisoner to comply with this subsection shall result in dismissal without prejudice of the prisoner’s action. (b)(1) A judicial order authorizing a prisoner to proceed in forma pauperis shall not prevent the freezing of a prisoner’s inmate account nor the forwarding of any future deposits into that account to the court in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. (2) In the event that the court denies the prisoner’s application for in forma pauperis status, the court shall give written notice to the inmate that the inmate’s action will be dismissed without prejudice if the filing fees are not paid within 30 days of the date of the order. (3) Upon the denial of in forma pauperis status the court shall make a finding as to whether in forma pauperis status was sought fraudulently, frivolously, or maliciously. If the court finds that the in forma pauperis status was sought fraudulently, frivolously, or maliciously, the action shall be dismissed with prejudice, and the court shall assess filing costs. (4) If an action is dismissed without prejudice and the prisoner refiles the action in substantially the same form: (A) All filing requirements including filing fees must be met in their entirety; and (B) No amount paid for court fees in any earlier action or any part thereof shall be credited to the prisoner. History. Code 1981, § 42-12-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 400, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1997–2011 · leading case: Brown v. Crawford, 715 S.E.2d 132 (Ga. 2011).

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Brown v. Crawford, 715 S.E.2d 132 (Ga. 2011). · cites it 14× “The legislature created several control mechanisms in the Act, including "procedures for monitoring prisoner litigation (see OCGA §§ 42-12-4 & 42-12-9) and [the placement of] certain burdens on prisoners seeking to conduct civil litigation.”

Jones v. Townsend, 480 S.E.2d 24 (Ga. 1997). · cites it 4× “2 To rectify the perceived imbalances in the judicial system toward which the Act was directed, the legislature provided procedures for monitoring prisoner litigation (see OCGA §§ 42-12-4 & 42-12-9) and placed certain burdens on prisoners seeking to conduct civil litigation.”

In Re Lawsuits of Carter, 510 S.E.2d 91 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 4× “2d 24 (1997) (approving statutory proceduresOCGA §§ 42-12-4 through 42-12-9for curbing frivolous or malicious prisoner litigation and placing financial costs on prisoners); Bd.”

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.