Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 15. COURTS · Chapter 7. STATE COURTS OF COUNTIES · Article 3. PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

15-7-42. Prosecution for misdemeanors; trials on merits conducted in open court; proceedings allowed in chambers.

Active

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

(a)
The prosecution of misdemeanors may proceed by accusation as provided in Code Section 17-7-71, citation or citation and arrest as provided for by law, or summons.#
(b)
All trials on the merits shall be conducted in open court and, so far as convenient, in a regular courtroom.#
(c)
All other proceedings, hearings, and acts not included in subsection (b) of this Code section may be done or conducted by a judge in chambers and in the absence of the clerk or other court officials. The judge of the court may hear motions and enter interlocutory orders, in all cases pending in the court over which he or she presides, in open court or in chambers.#

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

Code 1981, § 15-7-42, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1419, § 2; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 15; Ga. L. 2018, p. 550, § 2-2/SB 407. The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, added subsection (a); designated the existing provisions as subsections (b) and (c); and, in subsection (c), inserted ‘‘not included in subsection (b) of this Code section’’ in the middle of the first sentence and inserted ‘‘or she’’ near the end of the last sentence.

Law reviews

For article on the 2018 amendment of this Code section, see 35 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 45 (2018).

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-ch1-11a-(v13)-2020-pdf.pdf, Volume V13, 2020 edition, pages 400 to 401; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 1f1f034443c3.

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