O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 45-4-28 (2019)

Officer’s liability when bond exhausted or invalid and when acting without bond

✓ 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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When the penalty of the bond is exhausted, the officer himself shall still be liable for the same measure of damages as upon his bond; and he shall likewise be liable for any damage he may do in undertaking to discharge the duties of an office without having given the necessary bond or having given one that is invalid in whole or in part.

History

(Orig. Code 1863, § 160; Code 1868, § 155; Code 1873, § 166; Code 1882, § 166; Civil Code 1895, § 262; Civil Code 1910, § 297; Code 1933, § 89-423.)

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Plaintiff ’s recovery not limited to amount of bond. - The public officer would be personally liable in tort for any official misconduct or acts colore officii whereby the plaintiff was damaged, and the plaintiff would not be restricted in a

recovery to the amount of the officer’s official bond. Cantrell v. National Sur. Co., 46 Ga. App. 202, 167 S.E. 314 (1932). Cited in Irwin v. Arrendale, 117 Ga. App. 1, 159 S.E.2d 719 (1967).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Personal liability beyond amount of bond. - A sheriff would be personally liable in the event of a judgment entered

against the sheriff in excess of the amount of the official bond. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U75-61.

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, §§ 356, 363, 364, 492 et seq. C.J.S. - 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, § 476 et seq. ALR. - Personal liability of public officer or sureties on his bond to property owner for failure to present, or delay in presenting, checks given in payment of taxes, 105 ALR 711.

Suit against public officer to recover possession of property as suit against state or federal government, 160 ALR 332. Personal liability of public officer for killing or injuring animal while carrying out statutory duties with respect to it, 2 ALR3d 822.