2021 Georgia Code
Title 15 - Courts
Chapter 16 - Sheriffs
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 15-16-21. Fees for Sheriff's Services; Disposition of Fees

1. In all counties in this state where the sheriff is paid on a salary only basis, this Code section shall apply as far as fees to be charged. Such fees shall be remitted to the county treasurer or fiscal officer of the county within 30 days of receipt.

(b) For the services of the sheriff in civil cases, the following fees shall be charged:

(1) Serving copy of process and returning original, per copy .$ 50.00 (2) Action from another county, to be paid in advance ..........50.00 (3) Summoning each witness .....................................10.00 (4) Each levy or writ of fieri facias ..........................50.00 (5) Search and return of nulla bona ............................20.00 (6) Serving summons of garnishment or rule against garnishee ...50.00 If more than one, for each additional copy ....................6.00 (7) Commissions on sales of property: On sums of $50.00 or less .......................................8% On excess above $50.00 up to $550.00 ............................6% For all sums exceeding $550.00, on excess .......................3% No commissions shall be charged unless property is actually sold. (8) Making out and executing titles to land ....................50.00 If presented by purchaser ....................................20.00 (9) Executing bill of sale to personal property, when demanded by purchaser ..............................................................20.00 (10) Forthcoming bonds .........................................13.00 (11) Serving process against tenant over or intruder upon land to dispossess them ........................................................25.00 (12) For dispossessing tenant or intruder ......................25.00 (13) Taking and returning counter-affidavit when summary process to dispossess tenant or intruder is resisted ..............................13.00 (14) Settling each execution in his or her hands, settled without sale ...................................................................20.00 (15) Levying an attachment .....................................50.00 (16) Reserved. (17) Reserved. (18) Reserved. (19) Reserved. (20) Collecting tax fi. fas. $100.00 or less, each .............10.00 (21) Collecting tax fi. fas. over $100.00, each ...............20.00

(c) For executing and returning any warrant or for serving a citation, the fees to which a sheriff is entitled as provided in this subsection shall be paid at the disposition of the criminal case. For summoning witnesses or taking bonds in criminal cases, the fees to which a sheriff is entitled as provided in this subsection shall be paid in advance prior to the sheriff's rendering such service. For the services of the sheriff in criminal cases, the following fees shall be charged:

(1) Removing prisoner when habeas corpus is sought for his or her relief ...............................................................$ 15.00 (2) Removing prisoners under habeas corpus when no mileage is paid, per day ................................................................15.00 (3) Attending persons taken by warrant to judge's chamber, for each time ....................................................................4.50 (4) Conducting prisoner before judge or court to and from jail ..4.50 (5) Executing and returning any warrant ........................25.00 (6) Serving any citation issued pursuant to Article 10 of Chapter 10 of this title, relating to bad check prosecutions or any warrant .......25.00 (7) Summoning each witness .....................................10.00 (8) Taking bonds in criminal cases .............................20.00 (9) Executing a warrant of escape ..............................10.00 (10) Service in every criminal case before a judge or a judge and jury ...................................................................10.00

For feeding prisoners confined in the common jail, such fees are to be paid as may be fixed by the fiscal authorities of the county who are authorized by law to fix such fees. The jail fees herein provided shall be paid monthly by the county, provided that local laws regulating county jails or fixing salaries for jailers or their fees shall not be repealed by this provision.

All costs arising from services rendered in felony cases shall be paid from county funds whether the defendant is convicted or acquitted.

Sheriffs shall be entitled to receive the fees provided for in this Code section for all arrests in all criminal cases tried or otherwise disposed of in the superior, city, state, and probate courts.

All costs provided for under this Code section shall be paid at the clerk's office at the time of filing.

No fee shall be assessed against the alleged victim of a violation of Code Section 16-5-90, 16-5-91, 16-6-1, 16-6-2, 16-6-3, 16-6-4, 16-6-5.1, 16-6-22.1, or 16-6-22.2 or against the alleged victim of any domestic violence offense for costs associated with the filing of criminal charges against the stalking offender, sexual offender, or domestic violence offender or for the issuance or service of a warrant, protective order, or witness subpoena arising from the incident of stalking, sexual assault, or domestic violence.

(Laws 1792, Cobb's 1851 Digest, pp. 350, 351; Laws 1840, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 362; Ga. L. 1851-52, p. 20, § 1; Ga. L. 1857, p. 52, § 3; Code 1863, § 3621; Ga. L. 1866, p. 24, § 1; Code 1868, § 3646; Code 1873, § 3696; Ga. L. 1880-81, p. 90, §§ 1, 2; Code 1882, § 3696; Ga. L. 1884-85, p. 470, § 9; Ga. L. 1890-91, p. 96, § 2; Ga. L. 1894, p. 48, § 1; Civil Code 1895, § 5401; Penal Code 1895, § 1107; Ga. L. 1898, p. 58, § 1; Ga. L. 1898, p. 62, § 1; Ga. L. 1906, p. 119, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 5997; Penal Code 1910, § 1134; Ga. L. 1918, p. 226, § 1; Ga. L. 1919, p. 364, § 1; Code 1933, § 24-2823; Ga. L. 1943, p. 591, § 1; Ga. L. 1945, p. 144, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1945, p. 221; Ga. L. 1955, p. 383, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 988, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1976, p. 702, §§ 1-3; Ga. L. 1979, p. 988, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 15; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1659, §§ 1-4; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1988, p. 548, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1166, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1311, § 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 883, § 4; Ga. L. 2001, p. 885, § 3; Ga. L. 2010, p. 9, § 1-43/HB 1055; Ga. L. 2011, p. 59, § 1-62/HB 415; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 15/HB 142; Ga. L. 2017, p. 124, § 1/HB 14.)

The 2017 amendment, effective May 1, 2017, substituted the present provisions of subsection (a) for the former provisions, which read: "Reserved.".

- Giving of receipts for fees and penalty for charging excessive fees, § 15-13-30 et seq.

Costs for transfers between magistrate courts, Uniform Rules for the Magistrate Courts, Rule 36.3.

- Ga. L. 2011, p. 59, § 1-1/HB 415, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Jury Composition Reform Act of 2011.'"

ANALYSIS

• General Consideration

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Recovery from landlord for removing tenant's property.

- Under O.C.G.A. § 15-16-21(b)(12), the sheriff is entitled to recover from the landlord the reasonable expense incurred in removing a tenant's property pursuant to a writ of possession. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U85-36.

- In the case of a petition filed under the Family Violence Act, O.C.G.A. § 19-13-1 et seq., if service of process is necessary, the sheriff's $20 fee should be imposed in addition to the $16 filing fee under the Family Violence Act. 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U88-11.

- Sheriff's fees should be paid at clerk's office at time of filing, if required in a particular case, and payment of the sheriff's fees is required in addition to the deposit for the clerk's fees which is payable at the time of filing in appropriate cases. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U76-37.

- If sheriff makes service in suit filed in another county, fee should be paid in advance. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-38.

- If a sheriff has in fact performed a service either personally or by an authorized deputy in a criminal case before a judge or before a judge and a jury, the sheriff would be entitled to receive the named fee for such service. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 79.

Sheriff is entitled to only one fee for each arrest regardless of the number of offenses charged against the prisoner. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 92.

- Distinction between "Conducting prisoner before judge or court to and from jail," and "Attending person taken by warrant to judge's chambers," are two separate items of service; the first is when the sheriff conducts a prisoner to and from jail before the judge or court, whereas the latter is when the sheriff attends a person taken by a warrant to the judge's chambers. Of course if the sheriff did not place the prisoner in jail, the sheriff could not transport the person from the jail because the sheriff would have had to transfer the person from some other place and therefore would not be entitled to a fee for services which were not performed. 1957 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 234.

- Construing Ga. L. 1937-38, Ex. Sess., p. 558, § 5, Ga. L. 1943, p. 571, § 1 and former Code 1933, § 24-2823 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 15-16-21,40-13-25, and40-13-31), a sheriff was entitled to a fee for conducting a prisoner to and from jail before a judge or the court and the sheriff was also entitled to a fee for every criminal case before a judge or judge and jury since the services in a criminal case in the courtroom were a separate and distinct item of service from that of conducting a prisoner to and from jail. 1948-49 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 487.

- Fee for conducting prisoners before a judge or the court to and from jail is an individual charge per trip as they are made. Of course if this was abused, and unnecessary trips made, it would be a question which would address itself to the courts to determine from the facts as to whether or not such excessive trips would entitle the sheriff to be paid therefor. However, there can be no doubt that the usual and ordinary trips, which would include lunch or any other meal which would be necessary, would be a proper charge. 1957 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 235.

- Sheriff is entitled to collect from county funds all costs due in felony cases, for mileage fees, fees for guards, and for subpoenaing witnesses for the state, and would not be entitled to have such amount so paid by the county added to the sheriff's insolvent bill, which might arise because of the reason of the disposition of misdemeanor cases. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 89.

Sheriff's costs in felony cases are paid from the general county fund and the county may not charge the amount paid against the fines and forfeitures. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 89.

All fees accruing to sheriff in felony cases should be paid from county funds rather than from the fines and forfeitures fund. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 321.

Fees that sheriff is entitled to receive in felony cases are proper charge against county; the county is required to pay the sheriff's costs from general county funds in all disposed-of felony cases if such costs are not collectible or for any reason are not collected out of the defendants. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 85.

- Turnkey fees are classified as jail fees, and such jail fees shall be paid monthly by the county. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91.

Sheriff's fee for collecting tax fi. fa. is in addition to tax collector's fee for issuing tax execution. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 89.

- If any fi. fa. is delivered to the sheriff for execution and the sheriff is paid in advance by the party wishing the fi. fa. executed, the difference between the sheriff's fee and the constable's fee for such execution, then the sheriff is bound and required to execute the fi. fa. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 65-63.

- Subsection (e) of this section applies whether the defendant is convicted or acquitted, and disposal of a case by settlement in the nature of nolle prosequi should not defeat any right to fees due an officer. 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 609.

- Even though an arrest is made and a traffic case follows, if there is no physical locking up of the accused in a jail, the sheriff would not be entitled to a turnkey fee. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 82.

- Sheriff is not entitled to any fee on a return of a nulla bona unless it is collected out of the defendant in fi. fa. and the sheriff is not entitled to any fee on the collection of tax fi. fa. unless the collection is actually made from the defendant in fi. fa. 1950-51 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 254.

- Sheriff is entitled to a fee for assisting in the arrest, or taking custody of persons apprehended by the Georgia State Patrol. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 94.

Sheriff is not entitled to arresting fee if apprehension is made by game warden. 1954-56 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 113.

Sheriff is not required to execute warrants issued by presidents of courts-martial and the sheriff is not entitled to fees for executing those warrants. 1950-51 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 31.

- Summoning each witness is an entirely different matter from serving a copy of process and returning the original; in serving a copy of process, the sheriff is made a party to the suit. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-75.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 70 Am. Jur. 2d, Sheriffs, Police, and Constables, § 43 et seq.

- 80 C.J.S., Sheriffs and Constables, § 257.