2022 Georgia Code
Title 17 - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 7 - Pretrial Proceedings
Article 4 - Accusations
§ 17-7-70.1. Trial Upon Accusations in Certain Felony and Misdemeanor Cases; Trial Upon Plea of Guilty or Nolo Contendere

1. 1. In felony cases involving violations of the following:
      1. Code Sections 16-8-2, 16-8-14, 16-8-18, 16-9-1, 16-9-20, 16-9-31, 16-9-33, 16-9-37, 16-10-52, and 40-5-58;
      2. Article 1 of Chapter 8 of Title 16, relating to theft;
      3. Chapter 9 of Title 16, relating to forgery and fraudulent practices;
      4. Article 3 of Chapter 10 of Title 16, relating to escape and other offenses related to confinement;
      5. Code Section 16-11-131, relating to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon or first offender probationer; or
      6. Code Section 16-13-30, relating to the purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, or sale of controlled substances or marijuana,in which defendants have either been bound over to the superior court based on a finding of probable cause pursuant to a commitment hearing under Article 2 of this chapter or have expressly or by operation of law waived a commitment hearing, the district attorney shall have authority to prefer accusations, and the defendants shall be tried on such accusations according to the same rules of substantive and procedural laws relating to defendants who have been indicted by a grand jury.
   2. All laws relating to rights and responsibilities attendant to indicted cases shall be applicable to cases brought by accusations signed by the district attorney.
   3. The accusation need not be supported by an affidavit except in those cases in which the defendant has not been previously arrested in conjunction with the transaction charged in the accusation or when the accusation is to be used as the basis for the issuance of an arrest warrant.
2. Judges of the superior court may open their courts at any time without the presence of either a grand jury or a trial jury to receive and act upon pleas of guilty or nolo contendere in felony and misdemeanor cases. The judge of the superior court may try the issues in such cases without a jury upon an indictment or upon an accusation filed by the district attorney where the defendant has waived trial by jury.
3. An accusation substantially complying with the form provided in subsections (d) and (e) of Code Section 17-7-71 shall in all cases be sufficient.
4. The district attorney may not bring an accusation pursuant to this Code section in those cases where the grand jury has heard evidence or conducted an investigation or in which a no bill has been returned.
5. Notwithstanding subsections (a) through (d) of this Code section, nothing in this Code section shall affect the rights of public officials to appear before a grand jury as provided in Code Sections 45-11-4 and 45-15-11 or peace officers to appear before a grand jury as provided in Code Section 17-7-52.

History. Code 1981, § 17-7-70.1 , enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 1808, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 678, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 208, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 899, § 8-9/HB 1176; Ga. L. 2016, p. 186, § 7/HB 941; Ga. L. 2021, p. 423, § 3-3/HB 635.

The 2021 amendment, effective May 4, 2021, deleted “or” at the end of subparagraph (a)(1)(D); substituted “; or” for a period at the end of subparagraph (a)(1)(E); and added subparagraph (a)(1)(F); added “or when the accusation is to be used as the basis for the issuance of an arrest warrant” at the end of paragraph (a)(3); and substituted the existing provisions of subsection (a.1) for the former provisions, which read: “The provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section shall apply to violations of Code Section 16-13-30 whenever there has been a finding of probable cause pursuant to a commitment hearing under Article 2 of this chapter or the accused has waived either expressly or by operation of law the right to this hearing.”

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 1996, p. 678, § 2, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment by that Act is applicable to violations occurring on or after July 1, 1996.

Ga. L. 2012, p. 899, § 9-1(a)/HB 1176, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2012, and shall apply to offenses which occur on or after that date. Any offense occurring before July 1, 2012, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior conviction for the purpose of imposing a sentence that provides for a different penalty for a subsequent conviction for the same type of offense, of whatever degree or level, pursuant to this Act.”

Former subsection (a.1) was repealed by its own terms effective June 30, 2022.

Law reviews.

For review of 1998 legislation relating to criminal procedure, see 15 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 96 (1998).

For article on the 2012 amendment of this Code section, see 29 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 290 (2012).

For article on the 2016 amendment of this Code section, see 33 Georgia St. U. L. Rev. 79 (2016).

For note, “Give It to Me, I’m Worth It: The Need to Amend Georgia’s Record Restriction Statute to Provide Ex-Offenders with a Second Chance in the Employment Sector,” see 52 Ga. L. Rev. 267 (2017).