---
title: O.C.G.A. § 15-12-163. Challenges for cause; hearing of evidence; when objection may be made.
collection: code
id: 15-12-163
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 15-12-163 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-12-163
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-12-163.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-12-163/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t15-ch12-24-(v13a)-2015-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=cbb30143_0#page=146
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COURTS / JURIES / TRIAL JURIES / JURIES IN FELONY CASES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 15-12-163. Challenges for cause; hearing of evidence; when objection may be made.

(a) When each juror is called, he shall be presented to the accused in such a manner that he can be distinctly seen.

(b) The state or the accused may make any of the following objections to the juror:

(1) That the juror is not a citizen, resident in the county;

(2) That the juror is under 18 years of age;

(3) That the juror is incompetent to serve because of mental illness or intellectual disability, or that the juror is intoxicated;

(4) That the juror is so near of kin to the prosecutor, the accused, or the victim as to disqualify the juror by law from serving on the jury;

(5) That the juror has been convicted of a felony in a federal court or any court of a state of the United States and the juror’s civil rights have not been restored; or

(6) That the juror is unable to communicate in the English language.

(c) It shall be the duty of the court to hear immediately such evidence as is submitted in relation to the truth of these objections; the juror shall be a competent witness for this purpose. If the judge is satisfied of the truth of any objection, the juror shall be set aside for cause.

## History

Ga. L. 1855-56, p. 229, § 7; Code 1863, § 4568; Code 1868, § 4588; Code 1873, § 4681; Code 1882, § 4681; Penal Code 1895, § 973; Penal Code 1910, § 999; Code 1933, § 59-804; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1292, § 11; Ga. L. 2015, p. 385, § 4-15/HB 252.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘Practitioner’s Note Jury Selection: Whose Job Is It, Anyway?,’’ see 23 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 617 (2007). For annual survey of law on criminal law, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 87 (2010).

## Other Notes

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted ‘‘intellectual disability’’ for ‘‘mental retardation’’ in the middle of paragraph (b)(3).