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Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 15. COURTS · Chapter 12. JURIES · Article 5. TRIAL JURIES · Part 1. IN GENERAL

15-12-122. Demand of jury panels from which to select jury in civil actions in the state courts and the superior courts.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

  1. (a)
    1. (1)

      Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, in all civil actions in the state courts, each party may demand a full panel of 12 competent and impartial jurors from which to select a jury. When one or more of the regular panel of trial jurors is absent or for any reason disqualified, the judge, at the request of counsel for either party, shall cause the panel to be filled by additional competent and impartial jurors to the number of 12 before requiring the parties or their counsel to strike a jury. In all cases the parties or their attorneys may strike alternately, with the plaintiff exercising the first strike, until a jury of six persons is impaneled to try the case.#

    2. (2)

      In all civil actions in the state courts in which the claim for damages is greater than $50,000.00, either party may demand in writing prior to the commencement of the trial term that the case be tried by a jury of 12. If such a demand is made, the judge shall follow the procedures for superior courts of subsection (b) of this Code section.#

  2. (b)

    In all civil actions in the superior courts, each party may demand a full panel of 24 competent and impartial jurors from which to select a jury. When one or more of the regular panel of trial jurors is absent or for any reason disqualified, the judge, at the request of counsel for either party, shall cause the panel to be filled by additional competent and impartial jurors to the number of 24 before requiring the parties or their counsel to strike a jury. In all cases the parties or their attorneys may strike alternately, with the plaintiff exercising the first strike, until a jury of 12 persons is impaneled to try the case.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1869, p. 139, § 6; Code 1873, § 3932; Code 1882, § 3932; Penal Code 1895, § 853; Penal Code 1910, § 857; Code 1933, § 59-703; Ga. L. 1975, p. 1331, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1511, § 4; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1292, § 7; Ga. L. 2002, p. 803, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 631, § 15; Ga. L. 2023, p. 607, § 1/HB 543, effective July 1, 2023.

Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, substituted “this subsection” for “this Code section” in the first sentence in paragraph (a)(1) and substituted “$50,000.00” for “$25,000.00” in the first sentence in paragraph (a)(2). See Editor’s note for applicability

Editor's notes

Ga. L. 2023, p. 607, § 3/HB 543, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to subsection (a) applies to all civil actions that may be brought or are pending in state courts on or after July 1, 2023.

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t15-ch12-25-(v13a)-pdf.pdf, Volume V13A, 2015 edition, 2025 supplement, pages 22 to 23; merge action: replaced; file SHA-256 0e20c65a2dee.