2021 Georgia Code
Title 15 - Courts
Chapter 21 - Payment and Disposition of Fines and Forfeitures
Article 4 - Peace Officer, Prosecutor, and Indigent Defense Funding
§ 15-21-73. Penalty to Be Imposed in Certain Criminal and Quasi-Criminal and Traffic Cases and Upon Violation of Bond

1. 1. In every case in which any state court, probate court, juvenile court, police, recorder's, or mayor's court, municipal court, magistrate court, or superior court in this state shall impose a fine, which shall be construed to include costs, for any criminal or quasi-criminal offense against a criminal or traffic law, including civil traffic violations and violations of local criminal ordinances, of this state or political subdivision thereof, there shall be imposed as an additional penalty a sum equal to:
      1. The lesser of $50.00 or 10 percent of the original fine; plus
      2. An additional 10 percent of the original fine.
   2. At the time of posting bail or bond in any case involving a violation of a criminal or traffic law of this state or political subdivision thereof, an additional sum equal to:
      1. The lesser of $100.00 or 10 percent of the original amount of bail or bond; plus
      2. The lesser of an additional $100.00 or 10 percent of the original amount of bail or bond

         shall be posted. In every case in which any state court, probate court, municipal court, magistrate court, recorder's court, mayor's court, or superior court shall order the forfeiture of bail or bond, the additional amounts provided for in this paragraph shall be paid over as provided in Code Section 15-21-74.

2. Such sums shall be in addition to that amount required by Code Section 47-17-60 to be paid into the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund or Code Section 47-11-51 concerning the Judges of the Probate Courts Retirement Fund of Georgia and any other amounts provided for by law.

(Code 1981, §15-21-73, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1094, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 15; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 15; Ga. L. 1988, p. 286, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. ES3, § 5/HB 1EX; Ga. L. 2008, p. 846, § 10/HB 1245.)

- Assessment of costs in criminal cases, Uniform Superior Court Rules, Rule 36.15.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Penalty fee not authorized on drug conviction.

- Upon conviction of a defendant of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, the trial court was without authority to impose a fine, penalty fee, and D.A.T.E. fee; the penalty for the offense does not include monetary fines. Rawls v. State, 210 Ga. App. 408, 436 S.E.2d 527 (1993).

- Fines under O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73 may be added to the maximum allowable fine under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-3 and no offer of proof is necessary. Williams v. State, 221 Ga. App. 291, 470 S.E.2d 922 (1996).

- City did not violate a driver's substantive due process rights by adding court surcharges under O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73 to a penalty for running a red light under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-20 before stopping the practice pursuant to an opinion by the state Attorney General; the city's actions of collecting surcharges that the city thought were permissible under state law and remitting the moneys to other governmental authorities appeared to have been taken in good faith and did not shock the conscience. City of Duluth v. Morgan, 287 Ga. App. 322, 651 S.E.2d 475 (2007).

Cited in Barraco v. State, 252 Ga. App. 25, 555 S.E.2d 244 (2001).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Application of surcharge.

- Surcharge authorized by the Peace Officer and Prosecutor Training Fund Act of 1983, O.C.G.A. § 15-21-70 et seq., should not be collected in cases in which the offense occurred prior to July 1, 1983, even though trial and/or conviction is after that date. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U83-51.

- O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73 does not apply to a criminal case until there is a conviction; therefore, a criminal case which is dismissed or disposed of by nolle prosequi is not covered. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-80.

- Additional monetary penalties provided in O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73 may not be added to the civil monetary penalties imposed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 40-6-20. 2005 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U2005-4.

- If a sentence imposes neither costs nor a traditional fine, no penalty could be imposed under O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-80.

- Ten percent surcharge imposed by subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73 is to be collected on court costs imposed in addition to a fine in a criminal case whenever the amount of the fine is less than $500. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U84-18.

Surcharge is an additional penalty to be added to the fine and to the amount of any bail or bond established by the court. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U96-8.

- Penalties may be added which, together with the fine, would exceed the maximum fine permitted by law since, according to the clear terms of O.C.G.A. § 15-21-73, the penalty in question is in addition to the fine. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-80.

- Sentencing judge is not required to make the additional penalty part of the sentence; both the additional penalty and the additional sum in the case of bonds may be added on by the respective court officer whose duty it is to collect the moneys in each particular case. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-80.

- With respect to the revocation of probation on account of a failure to pay the additional penalty, as long as it is a condition of probation that the probationer not violate the laws of the state, it would appear that revocation could be accomplished even though the additional penalty was not specifically prescribed by the sentencing judge, but as a matter of practice the penalty should certainly be included as a condition in the order of probation. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-80.