TITLE 42 PENAL INSTITUTIONS

Section 6. Detainers, 42-6-1 through 42-6-25.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

42-6-3. Time limit for trial; notice and request for final disposition; notification of inmate and interested parties; effect of escape by inmate.

Whenever a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment in a penal institution under the jurisdiction of the department and whenever during the continuance of the term of imprisonment there is pending in any court in this state any untried indictment or accusation on the basis of which a detainer has been filed against such an inmate, he shall be brought to trial within two terms of court after he has caused to be delivered to the prosecuting officer and the clerk of the appropriate court of the prosecuting officer's jurisdiction written notice of the place of his imprisonment and his request that a final disposition be made of the indictment or accusation; provided, however, that, for good cause shown in open court, the inmate or his counsel being present, the court having jurisdiction of the matter may grant any necessary or reasonable continuance. The request of the inmate shall be accompanied by a certificate of the department stating the term of commitment under which the inmate is being held, the computed expiration date of the commitment, and the time of parole eligibility of the inmate.
The written notice and request for final disposition referred to in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be given or sent by the inmate to the commissioner who shall promptly forward it, together with the certificate referred to in subsection (a) of this Code section, to the appropriate prosecuting officer and court by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery.
Within 15 days, the warden, superintendent, or other official having physical custody of the inmate shall inform him of the source and furnish him with a copy of the contents of any detainer filed against him and shall also inform him of his right to make a request for a final disposition of the indictment or accusation upon which the detainer is based.
Any request for final disposition of a pending indictment or accusation made by an inmate pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall operate as a request for final disposition of all untried indictments or accusations on the basis of which detainers have been filed against the inmate from the county to whose prosecuting official the request for a final disposition is specifically directed. The commissioner shall promptly notify all interested prosecuting officers and courts in the several jurisdictions within the county to which the inmate's request for final disposition is being sent of the proceeding being initiated by the inmate. Notification sent pursuant to this subsection shall be accompanied by copies of the inmate's written notice and request and by the certificate. If trial is not had on any indictment or accusation upon which a detainer has been based within two terms of court after the receipt by the appropriate prosecuting officers and court of the inmate's request for final disposition, provided no continuance has been granted, all detainers based upon such pending indictments or accusations shall be stricken and dismissed from the records of the department.
Escape from custody by an inmate subsequent to his execution of the request for a final disposition of any pending indictment or accusation shall automatically void the request for final disposition and the same shall be stricken and dismissed from the records of the department.

(Ga. L. 1968, p. 1110, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 42; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3.)

Cross references.

- Demand for trial generally, § 17-7-170 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Defendants serving time outside of state.

- This section has no application to a defendant who is serving in a penal institution outside of the state and not under the jurisdiction of the Board of Corrections. Butler v. State, 126 Ga. App. 22, 189 S.E.2d 870 (1972).

Speedy trial.

- When the defendant is not within the purview of subsection (a) of this section, nor does the record show compliance with when §§ 17-7-170,17-8-21, or17-8-33, the defendant is not denied the right to a speedy trial within the meaning of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XI or U.S. Const., Art. VI, when the defendant's trial is delayed after the defendant withdraws the defendan's guilty plea. Butler v. State, 126 Ga. App. 22, 189 S.E.2d 870 (1972).

Order issued by the trial court divesting the Department of Offender Rehabilitation to produce the defendant for arraignment and trial on certain dates was not a detainer and the defendant was not required to follow the procedure authorized in O.C.G.A. § 42-6-3 for ensuring the trial date after the defendant had filed a demand for speedy trial. Street v. State, 211 Ga. App. 230, 438 S.E.2d 693 (1993).

Trial requirement not actuated by demand for trial.

- When the defendant freely admitted to the trial court that the defendant made no demand for a speedy trial or disposition of the defendant's indictment to the appropriate authorities, the requirement that "an inmate . . . shall be brought to trial within two terms of court" was never actuated by a demand for trial. Riley v. State, 180 Ga. App. 409, 349 S.E.2d 274 (1986).

Sanction for violating subsection (a).

- Only sanction provided for the state's failure to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 42-6-3 is that the detainers based upon pending indictments or accusations shall be stricken or dismissed. Quick v. State, 198 Ga. App. 353, 401 S.E.2d 758 (1991).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- What justifies escape or attempt to escape, or assistance in that regard, 70 A.L.R.2d 1430.

Duress, necessity, or conditions of confinement as justification for escape from prison, 54 A.L.R.5th 141.

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