2020 Georgia Code
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Chapter 5 - Drivers' Licenses
Article 3 - Cancellation, Suspension, and Revocation of Licenses
§ 40-5-70. Suspension of Drivers' Licenses for Failure to Show Proof of Required Minimum Insurance; Hearings; Mandatory Suspension

1. In addition to any other punishment, the driver's license of a person convicted under subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Code Section 40-6-10 shall be suspended for a period of 60 days. The person shall submit the driver's license to the court upon conviction, and the court shall forward the driver's license to the department. After the 60 day suspension period and when the person provides proof of having prepaid a six-month minimum insurance policy and pays a restoration fee of $210.00 or $200.00 when processed by mail to the department, the suspension shall terminate and the department shall return the person's driver's license to such person. For a second or subsequent offense within a five-year period, the suspension period shall be increased to 90 days, and, in addition to the driver's license, such person's license tag and tag registration shall also be suspended for a period of 90 days. The restoration fee for a second or subsequent offense within a five-year period shall be $310.00 or $300.00 if paid by mail. The procedures for submission of drivers' licenses to the court and the forwarding of such licenses to the department shall also apply to license tags and tag registrations.
2. A hearing of contempt of court shall be scheduled for any person refusing to deliver his motor vehicle driver's license and, where applicable, motor vehicle license tag and tag registration to the court after a conviction under subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Code Section 40-6-10 and a warrant shall issue for the arrest of such person.
3. For the purposes of mandatory suspension of a driver's license for a first violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Code Section 40-6-10, a forfeiture of bail or collateral used to seek a defendant's appearance in court, the payment of a fine, a plea of guilty, or a finding of guilty shall be considered a conviction regardless of whether the sentence is suspended, probated, rebated, or revoked.A plea of nolo contendere shall not be considered a conviction under this subsection, but a record of the disposition of the case shall be forwarded by the court to the department for the purposes of counting the plea of nolo contendere as a conviction under subsection (d) of this Code section.
4. For the purposes of mandatory suspension of a driver's license, license tag, and tag registration for a second or subsequent violation within a five-year period, as measured from the dates of previous arrests for which convictions were obtained to the date of the current arrest for which a conviction was obtained, of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Code Section 40-6-10, a forfeiture of bail or collateral used to seek a defendant's appearance in court, the payment of a fine, a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, a plea of nolo contendere to a previous violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Code Section 40-6-10, or a finding of guilty shall be considered a conviction regardless of whether the sentence is suspended, probated, rebated, or revoked.

(Code 1981, §40-5-70, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 40; Ga. L. 1992, p. 779, § 23; Ga. L. 2009, p. 679, § 6/HB 160.)

- Disposition of traffic offenses in Juvenile Court, Uniform Rules for the Juvenile Courts of Georgia, Rule 13.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1990, "drivers'" was substituted for "driver's" in the last sentence of subsection (a) and "subsection (d)" was substituted for "subsection (b)" in the second sentence of subsection (c).

- Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4, effective January 1, 1991, repealed former Code Section 40-5-70, relating to the suspension and reinstatement of driver's licenses for persons convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, incorporated those provisions into Code Section 40-5-63, and enacted present Code Section 40-5-70. Former Code Section 40-5-70 was based on Ga. L. 1983, p. 1000, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 40; Ga. L. 1985, p. 758, § 10; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 40; and Ga. L. 1990, p. 1154, § 3.

- Reinstatement Procedures for Insurance Suspensions, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Driver Services, Driver License Services, Revocation and Suspension, § 375-3-3.16.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Verification of information prior to traffic stop.

- Since, in most cases, a driver must wait a minimum of 30 days after the driver's license is suspended before applying for reinstatement and, in some cases, up to five years, a police officer was not required to verify that the information the officer had received within the few weeks preceding a stop regarding the suspension of the driver's license was still accurate before making a brief stop of the car. State v. Harris, 236 Ga. App. 525, 513 S.E.2d 1 (1999).

Cited in Payne v. State, 209 Ga. App. 780, 434 S.E.2d 543 (1993).