2021 Georgia Code
Title 15 - Courts
Chapter 16 - Sheriffs
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 15-16-5. Required Bond
The sheriffs shall give a bond in the sum of $25,000.00, which amount may be increased in any county by local Act, conditioned for the faithful accounting for all public and other funds or property coming into the sheriffs' or their deputies' custody, control, care, or possession.
(Laws 1799, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 575; Code 1863, § 324; Ga. L. 1866, p. 17, § 1; Code 1868, § 385; Code 1873, § 349; Code 1882, § 349; Civil Code 1895, § 4372; Civil Code 1910, § 4906; Code 1933, § 24-2805; Ga. L. 1965, p. 448, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 921, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 495, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 747, § 1.)
Cross references.- Official bonds generally, § 45-4-1 et seq.
Law reviews.- For article on insurance and indemnity for Georgia local government officers under Georgia law, see 13 Ga. L. Rev. 747 (1979).
JUDICIAL DECISIONSANALYSIS
- General Consideration
- Liability of Surety
- Acts for Which Liability Imposed
- Practice and Procedure
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Payment of judgment prerequisite to office eligibility.
- Judgment against a sheriff-elect for the failure to account for and pay over county moneys must be paid before such an individual is eligible to hold office, and a county must pay the bond premium on that sheriff regardless of the premium charged. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U76-58.
Sheriffs must be bonded by one corporate surety liable for the full amount of the statutory bond penalty; it is not permissible for sheriffs to file separate corporate surety bonds, each for less than the surety penalty, even if the assumed but fictitious total of the penalties under each bond equals the statutory penalty. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-31.
If surety relieved, new bond, surety, required.- Sheriff's bond is written to cover the sheriff's term of office and since it is required to be given conditioned for the faithful performance of the sheriff's public duty, it can only be canceled with approval of the Governor; in the event the surety is legally relieved from future liability, the sheriff is required to give a new bond and surety and upon failure to do so may be removed from office. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-1.
Deputy sheriff should give bond in same amount as the deputy's principal. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-100.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 70 Am. Jur. 2d, Sheriffs, Police, and Constables, § 14.
C.J.S.- 80 C.J.S., Sheriffs and Constables, § 7.
ALR.
- Right of individual to maintain action on bond of peace officer, 19 A.L.R. 73.
Liability of sureties on bond of sheriff for unlawful arrest made by him or his deputy beyond his territorial jurisdiction, 149 A.L.R. 1093.
