O.C.G.A.
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.
When a defendant is represented by an attorney, his or her attorney shall be responsible for informing the defendant as to his or her eligibility for sentencing as a first offender. When a defendant is pro se, the court shall inquire as to the defendant’s interest in entering a plea pursuant to the terms of this article. If the defendant expresses a desire to be sentenced as a first offender, the court shall ask the prosecuting attorney or probation official if the defendant is eligible for sentencing
as a first offender. When imposing a sentence, the court shall ensure that, if a defendant is sentenced as a first offender, he or she is made aware of the consequences of entering a first offender plea pursuant to the terms of this article.
History
Ga. L. 1968, p. 324, § 3; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1807, § 2; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-74/HB 310; Ga. L. 2016, p. 443, § 6A-1/SB 367.
Annotations
Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective July 1, 2015, and shall apply to sentences entered on or after such date.”
Law reviews. For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015). For article on the 2016 amendment of this Code section, see 33 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 139 (2016).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Defendant informed of consequences if probation violated. - Trial court did not err in increasing the sentence originally imposed upon the defendant because the defendant was informed when the first offender probation sentence was pronounced that, upon an adjudication of guilt, the defendant could be sentenced to the maximum allowable under
the law; although the sentencing form was ambiguous since both the first offender treatment box and the felony sentence box were checked, the ambiguity in the form was not fatal to the trial court’s imposition of a sentence greater than the original one. Otuwa v. State, 303 Ga. App. 410, 693 S.E.2d 610, 2010 Ga. App. LEXIS 361 (2010).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
8
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2023 · leading case:
Bishop v. the State, 802 S.E.2d 39 (Ga. Ct. App. 2017).
Bishop v. the State, 802 S.E.2d 39 (Ga. Ct. App. 2017).
· cites it 4× “When Bishop was sentenced, OCGA § 42-8-61 directed that she be “informed of the terms of [the First Offender Act] at the time of imposition of sentence.”
Hahn v. State, 303 S.E.2d 299 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983).
· cites it 4× “As I have heretofore said, I do not think we should reach the constitutional issue addressed by the majority because on a retrial of this case, or any other like case, this issue will not arise again if the defendants are properly informed both of the sentence to be imposed, and…”
Mays v. State, 414 S.E.2d 481 (Ga. 1992).
· cites it 2× “(a) As to the sentencing of persons who plead guilty to an offense under the first offender article, OCGA § 42-8-61 provides: “The defendant shall be informed of the terms of this article at the time of imposition of sentence.”
OTUWA v. State, 693 S.E.2d 610 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010).
· cites it 2× “2 See OCGA § 42-8-61: “The defendant shall be informed of the terms of this article at the time of imposition of sentence.”
Griffin v. State, 535 S.E.2d 783 (Ga. Ct. App. 2000).
· cites it 2× “9 OCGA § 42-8-61. 10 See OCGA § 42-8-60 (a).”
Woodson v. State, 600 S.E.2d 717 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004).
· cites it 2× “7 OCGA § 42-8-61; see Roland v. Meadows, 273 Ga.”
Parker v. State, 374 S.E.2d 230 (Ga. Ct. App. 1988).
· cites it 2× “Resolving any doubt as to the effect of the forms in favor of defendant, Stephens v. State, supra, we must conclude that defendant was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to five years on probation at the time he entered his original pleas.”
Bryan Ivey v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2023).
· cites it 20× “Until July 1, 2015, OCGA § 42-8-61, a provision of the First Offender Act, was entitled “Defendant to be informed of terms of article at time sentence imposed,” and provided that “[t]he defendant shall be informed of the terms of [the Act] at the time of imposition of sentence.”
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.