---
title: O.C.G.A. § 15-7-42. Prosecution for misdemeanors; trials on merits conducted in open court; proceedings allowed in chambers.
collection: code
id: 15-7-42
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 15-7-42 (2025)
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text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/15-7-42/text
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date: 2025
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heading_path: COURTS / STATE COURTS OF COUNTIES / PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
---

# O.C.G.A. § 15-7-42. Prosecution for misdemeanors; trials on merits conducted in open court; proceedings allowed in chambers.

(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.

## 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).