2022 Georgia Code
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 10 - Offenses Against Public Administration
Article 3 - Escape and Other Offenses Related to Confinement
§ 16-10-52. Escape

1. A person commits the offense of escape when he or she:
   1. Having been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor or of the violation of a municipal ordinance, intentionally escapes from lawful custody or from any place of lawful confinement;
   2. Being in lawful custody or lawful confinement prior to conviction, intentionally escapes from such custody or confinement;
   3. Having been adjudicated of a delinquent act or a juvenile traffic offense, or as a child in need of services subject to lawful custody or lawful confinement, intentionally escapes from lawful custody or from any place of lawful confinement;
   4. Being in lawful custody or lawful confinement prior to adjudication, intentionally escapes from such custody or confinement; or
   5. Intentionally fails to return as instructed to lawful custody or lawful confinement or to any residential facility operated by the Georgia Department of Corrections after having been released on the condition that he or she will so return; provided, however, such person shall be allowed a grace period of eight hours from the exact time specified for return if such person can prove he or she did not intentionally fail to return.

   (a.1) Revocation of probation for conduct in violation of any provision of subsection (a) of this Code section shall not preclude an independent criminal prosecution under this Code section based on the same conduct.

2. 1. A person who, having been convicted of a felony, is convicted of the offense of escape shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.
   2. Any person charged with a felony who is in lawful confinement prior to conviction or adjudication who is convicted of the offense of escape shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.
   3. Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, a person who commits the offense of escape while armed with a dangerous weapon shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years.
   4. Any other person convicted of the offense of escape shall be punished as for a misdemeanor.

History. Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 807; Code 1863, § 4378; Code 1868, § 4416; Code 1873, § 4484; Ga. L. 1876, p. 112, § 1; Ga. L. 1882-83, p. 48, § 1; Code 1882, §§ 4483a, 4484; Ga. L. 1884-85, p. 52, § 1; Penal Code 1895, §§ 314, 316; Penal Code 1910, §§ 319, 321; Code 1933, §§ 26-4507, 26-4509; Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 187, § 1; Ga. L. 1955, p. 578, § 1; Ga. L. 1961, p. 491, § 1; Code 1933, § 26-2501, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 645, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 329, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 852, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1064, § 10; Ga. L. 2001, p. 94, § 2; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-8/HB 242.

Cross references.

Conduct of trials of inmates charged with escaping from state or county correctional institution, § 17-8-50 .

Demand by Governor for return of fugitives by other states, § 17-13-42 et seq.

Authority of Commissioner of Corrections to issue arrest warrant, § 42-2-8 .

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 1997, p. 1064, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Juvenile Justice Act of 1997’ .”

Ga. L. 1997, p. 1064, § 12, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the provisions of that Act “shall not affect or abate the status of a crime or delinquent act or of any such act or omission which occurred prior to April 22, 1997, nor shall the prosecution of such crime or delinquent act be abated as a result of the provisions of this Act.”

Ga. L. 2001, p. 94, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘2001 Crime Prevention Act’ .”

Ga. L. 2001, p. 94, § 8, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that this Act shall apply to offenses of escape committed on or after July 1, 2001.

Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions.”

Administrative rules and regulations.

Fugitive procedures, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Board of Corrections, Institutional and Center Operations, § 125-3-1-.07

Law reviews.

For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 69 (1997).

For note on the 1994 amendment of this Code section, see 11 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 122 (1994).

For note on the 2001 amendment of this Code section, see 18 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 47 (2001).