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O.C.G.A. § 45-15-17 — Power to conduct investigations generally; issuance and enforcement of subpoenas | Georgia Code
O.C.G.A. § 45-15-17 (2018) Copy Cite Official Site Syfertize CourtListener Scholar Amendments

TITLE 45 PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

Section 15. Attorney General, 45-15-1 through 45-15-70.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

45-15-17. Power to conduct investigations generally; issuance and enforcement of subpoenas.

  1. The Attorney General, as head of the Department of Law and as chief legal officer of the state, is authorized to institute and conduct investigations at any time into the affairs of the state; or of any department, board, bureau, commission, institution, authority, instrumentality, retirement system, or other agency of the state; or into the affairs of any person or organization to the extent that such person or organization shall have or shall have had any dealings with the state or any department, board, bureau, commission, institution, authority, instrumentality, retirement system, or other agency of the state.
  2. For the purpose of conducting any investigation as provided in this Code section, the Attorney General shall have the power to administer oaths; to call any party to testify under oath at such investigations; to require the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, records, and papers; and to take the depositions of witnesses. For such purposes the Attorney General is authorized to issue a subpoena for any witness or a subpoena to compel the production of any books, records, or papers.
  3. In case of refusal to obey a subpoena issued under this Code section to any person and upon application by the Attorney General, the superior court in whose jurisdiction the witness is to appear or in which the books, records, or papers are to be produced may issue to that person an order requiring him to appear before the court to show cause why he should not be held in contempt for refusal to obey the subpoena. Failure to obey a subpoena may be punished by the court as contempt of court.
  4. Nothing contained in this Code section shall authorize the Attorney General to commence or carry on any investigation or to issue any subpoenas to anyone for the purpose of investigating any member of the General Assembly while the General Assembly is in any regular or called session.

(Ga. L. 1943, p. 284, § 5; Ga. L. 1975, p. 883, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 45.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Legality of subpoenas.

- A court of equity has jurisdiction to inquire into the legality of subpoenas issued under O.C.G.A. § 45-15-17. Williams v. Bolton, 227 Ga. 671, 182 S.E.2d 440 (1971).

Authority to investigate.

- Georgia Attorney General was authorized to investigate, under O.C.G.A. § 45-15-17(a),the defendant's criminal attempts to commit theft by taking as the matter related to the state because the investigation began with the Governor's grant of funds to the defendant's organization. Brown v. State, 268 Ga. App. 629, 602 S.E.2d 158 (2004).

Enjoinment of enforcement of unauthorized subpoenas.

- When subpoenas are not in accordance with the law authorizing the issuance of subpoenas by the Attorney General, a trial judge errs in refusing to enjoin the Attorney General from proceeding with an investigation under such subpoenas. Williams v. Bolton, 227 Ga. 671, 182 S.E.2d 440 (1971).

When subpoenas issued by the Attorney General do not show that the investigation concerned any department, agency, board, bureau, commission, institution, or authority of the state, but state that the investigation concerns the activities of an employee of a particular county, that employee cannot be legally required to obey the subpoenas. Williams v. Bolton, 227 Ga. 671, 182 S.E.2d 440 (1971).

Cited in Claxton v. Bolton, 223 Ga. 818, 158 S.E.2d 676 (1967); Dean v. Bolton, 235 Ga. 544, 221 S.E.2d 20 (1975); Courtney v. State, 340 Ga. App. 496, 797 S.E.2d 496 (2017).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 7 Am. Jur. 2d, Attorney General, §§ 6, 21, 31, 32, 35.

C.J.S.

- 7A C.J.S., Attorney General, § 30.

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