2020 Georgia Code
Title 27 - Game and Fish
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 27-1-18. Powers of Game Wardens Generally

1. Game wardens shall have the power and authority:
   1. To enforce all state laws on all property owned or controlled by the department;
   2. To enforce all state laws pertaining to functions assigned to the department;
   3. To enforce any state law when the violation of that law is committed in conjunction with a violation of a state law pertaining to functions assigned to the department;
   4. To enforce any state law when ordered to do so by the Governor or to protect any life or property when the circumstances demand action; and
   5. At the expense of the department, to assist the Department of Public Safety and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in carrying out their duties and responsibilities when requested to do so by the Department of Public Safety or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
2. The commissioner may, and in the case of a request by the Governor shall, authorize and direct the department's game wardens to cooperate with and render assistance to any law enforcement agency of this state or any municipality, county, or other political subdivision thereof in any criminal case, in the prevention or detection of violations of any law, or in the apprehension or arrest of persons who violate the criminal laws of this state, any other state, or the United States, upon a request by the governing authority or chief law enforcement officer of any municipality, the sheriff of any county, a judge of the superior court of any county, or the Governor.

(Ga. L. 1973, p. 1483, § 3; Code 1933, § 45-118, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 396, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 816, § 11; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 27; Ga. L. 1990, p. 376, § 1; Ga. L. 2019, p. 808, § 7/SB 72.)

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted "Game wardens" for "Conservation rangers" in the introductory language of subsection (a) and substituted "game wardens" for "conservation rangers" in subsection (b).

- Authority of conservation rangers to inspect coastal marshland to ascertain whether laws pertaining to protection of such areas are being observed, § 12-5-286.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Conservation officer/ranger engaged in official duties in enforcing traffic.

- Sufficient evidence supported the defendant's convictions of felony and misdemeanor obstruction of an officer and driving without carrying a license because the on-duty and uniformed conservation ranger had authority to arrest and was authorized to enforce traffic offenses and the state showed that the ranger was acting within the lawful discharge of official duties when the defendant was asked to turn down the music from the vehicle. Thornton v. State, 353 Ga. App. 252, 836 S.E.2d 541 (2019).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 36A C.J.S., Fish, §§ 29, 30.