2022 Georgia Code
Title 35 - Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies
Chapter 3 - Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 35-3-4.5. Subpoena for Voting Records; Audit; Penalty for Noncompliance
- In any investigation of a violation of Chapter 2 of Title 21 involving elections, the director, assistant director, or deputy director for investigations shall be authorized to issue a subpoena, with the consent of the Attorney General, to compel the production of books, papers, documents, or other tangible items, including records and documents contained within or generated by a computer or any other electronic device, unless such records are wholly owned by the federal government, and to undertake, at the discretion of the bureau, an audit of materials produced in response to such subpoena in a form deemed necessary by the bureau.
- Upon failure of a person without lawful excuse to obey a subpoena, the director, assistant director, or deputy director for investigations, through the prosecuting attorney, may apply to a superior court having jurisdiction for an order compelling compliance. Such person may object to the subpoena on the grounds that it fails to comply with this Code section or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of such person. The court may issue an order modifying or setting aside such subpoena or directing compliance with the original subpoena. Failure to obey a subpoena issued under this Code section may be punished by the court as contempt of court.
History. Code 1981, § 35-3-4.5 , enacted by Ga. L. 2022, p. 121, § 11/SB 441.
Effective date.
This Code section became effective July 1, 2022.
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.’”
Cross references.
Voting and elections, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. II.
