2020 Georgia Code
Title 42 - Penal Institutions
Chapter 5 - Correctional Institutions of State and Counties
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 42-5-3. Department's Responsibility for Trial Costs and Expenses
The whole costs of the case and expenses of the trial involving an inmate of the state penal system charged with the violation of any criminal statute shall be borne by the department, provided the offense was committed by the inmate within the confines of a state correctional institution or was the crime of escape or attempted escape. The costs and expenses of the trial shall include, but shall not be limited to, the cost of the sheriff, bailiff, clerks, jurors, and jail fees and shall be paid by the department to the governing authority of the county in which the trial was conducted, for proper disposition.
(Orig. Code 1863, § 4690; Code 1868, § 4714; Code 1873, § 4812; Code 1882, § 4812; Penal Code 1895, § 1174; Penal Code 1910, § 1230; Code 1933, § 77-401; Ga. L. 1964, p. 462, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1590, § 1.)
Cross references.- Payment of costs of criminal proceedings generally, T. 17, Ch. 11.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Fund out of which expenses paid.
- No reference is made in this section or elsewhere in this Code as to the fund from which the expense is to be paid, and it seems that the provision that the expense shall be paid out of the penitentiary fund remains unrepealed. Campbell v. Davison, 162 Ga. 221, 133 S.E. 468 (1926).
Appeal of ex parte orders sealing inmate records by Department of Corrections.
- O.C.G.A. § 5-7-1 et seq., which limited appeals by the state in criminal cases, did not apply to the Department of Corrections (DOC) in the Department's appeal from an ex parte order sealing records of visits to inmates charged with prison guard murders; the statute applied to the prosecuting attorney responsible for the criminal case, not state entities and actors who had no control over prosecutions, although the DOC was responsible for the cost of prosecution of the inmates. State v. Rowe, Ga. , 843 S.E.2d 537 (May 18, 2020).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Costs of trial conducted after discharge from custody.
- Board is liable for costs of trial of former inmate in custody of department tried for crime committed while inmate was incarcerated in custody of department, but whose trial will take place after the inmate is discharged from custody. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-64.
Costs include incarceration in local jail during trial but not for incarceration, if any, at the local jail after the trial and before the inmate is returned to the custody of the Department of Offender Rehabilitation (Corrections). 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-64.
Other costs and fees department obligated to pay.- Department of Corrections is obligated to pay all costs and expenses listed on the statement submitted to the department, including court-appointed attorneys' fees and the per diem of the court reporter. 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 743.
