2022 Georgia Code
Title 15 - Courts
Chapter 18 - Prosecuting Attorneys
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 15-18-6. Duties of District Attorney

The duties of the district attorneys within their respective circuits are:

1. To attend each session of the superior courts unless excused by the judge thereof and to remain until the business of the state is disposed of;
2. To attend on the grand juries, advise them in relation to matters of law, and swear and examine witnesses before them;
3. To administer the oaths the laws require to the grand and trial jurors and to the bailiffs or other officers of the court and otherwise to aid the presiding judge in organizing the courts as he may require;
4. To draw up all indictments or presentments, when requested by the grand jury, and to prosecute all indictable offenses;
5. To prosecute civil actions to enforce any civil penalty set forth in Code Section 40-6-163 and to prosecute or defend any other civil action in the prosecution or defense of which the state is interested, unless otherwise specially provided for;
6. To attend before the appellate courts when any criminal case emanating from their respective circuits is tried, to argue the same, and to perform any other duty therein which the interest of the state may require;
7. To advise law enforcement officers concerning the sufficiency of evidence, warrants, and similar matters relating to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses;
8. To collect all money due the state in the hands of any escheators and to pay it over to the educational fund, if necessary, compelling payment by rule or order of court or other legal means;
9. To collect all claims of the state which they may be ordered to collect by the state revenue commissioner and to remit the same within 30 days after collection; and on October 1 of every year to report to the state revenue commissioner the condition of the claims in their hands in favor of the state, particularly specifying:
   1. The amounts collected and paid, from what sources received and for what purposes, and to whom paid;
   2. What claims are unpaid and why;
   3. What judgments have been obtained, when, and in what court; and
   4. What actions are instituted, in what courts, and their present progress and future prospects;
10. To ensure disposition information is submitted in accordance with subsection (g) of Code Section 35-3-36 when a final disposition decision is made by a district attorney;
11. To assist victims and witnesses of crimes through the complexities of the criminal justice system and ensure that the victims of crimes are apprised of the rights afforded them under the law; and
12. To perform such other duties as are or may be required by law or which necessarily appertain to their office.

History. Laws 1799, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 574; Laws 1823, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 1025; Laws 1828, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 1027; Laws 1836, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 254; Laws 1845, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 452; Ga. L. 1853-54, p. 107, § 2; Code 1863, § 351; Code 1868, § 412; Code 1873, § 377; Code 1882, § 377; Civil Code 1895, § 4392; Penal Code 1895, § 798; Civil Code 1910, § 4926; Penal Code 1910, § 798; Code 1933, § 24-2908; Ga. L. 1984, p. 842, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 394, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1319, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 53, § 1/SB 352; Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 8/SB 441.

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, added paragraph (10); redesignated former paragraphs (10) and (11) as present paragraphs (11) and (12), respectively; and inserted “that” in paragraph (11).

Cross references.

Constitutional duties, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VIII, Para. I.

Indictments and accusations generally, § 17-7-50 et seq.

Authority of district attorney to request assistance of Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate criminal matters, § 35-3-13 .

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 1/SB 441, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “(a) The General Assembly finds that:

“(1) The state’s current system for sharing criminal case data is not adequate to provide to all appropriately interested parties, including, but not limited to, law enforcement agencies and officers, courts, crime victims and other impacted individuals, housing providers, and employers, complete criminal case data;

“(2) One recent report indicates there may be as many as 7 million criminal charges without a final disposition indicated, and, of those, as many as 5.4 million criminal charges have languished for years;

“(3) Georgia’s citizens and businesses are harmed by incomplete criminal case data. For example, in thousands of cases, as a result of incomplete criminal case data, citizens’ employability and housing opportunities have been negatively impacted; and

“(4) A more uniform, modern system and framework for handling criminal case data will support the state in meeting its obligations to victims to keep them informed as their perpetrators make their way through the criminal justice system.

“(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that criminal case data be complete and accurately reported to the appropriate state data base and be accessible to state and local criminal justice agencies, employers, housing providers, victims, and all citizens.”

Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 2/SB 441, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Criminal Records Responsibility Act.’”

Law reviews.

For article, “The Prosecuting Attorney in Georgia’s Juvenile Courts,” see 13 Ga. St. B. J. 27 (2008).

For article, “Criminal Procedure: Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights,” see 35 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 31 (2018).