---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20. False statements and writings, concealment of facts, and fraudulent documents in matters within jurisdiction of state or political subdivisions.
collection: code
id: 16-10-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-10-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-10-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-10-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch7-11-(v14a)-2018-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=aecbfe9c_0#page=617
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
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION / OBSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND RELATED OFFENSES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20. False statements and writings, concealment of facts, and fraudulent documents in matters within jurisdiction of state or political subdivisions.

A person who knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; makes a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or makes or uses any false writing or document, knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of state government or of the government of any county, city, or other political subdivision of this state shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years, or both.

## History

Code 1933, § 26-2408, enacted by Ga. L. 1976, p. 483, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1068, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 16.

## Cross References

Violations of this section via assertions of false claims under the Georgia Cotton Producers Indem-nity Fund, § 2-19-7. Violation of this section for falsification of contractor affidavit, § 13-10-91. Annual salaries of certain state officials; cost-of-living adjustments, § 45-7-4.

## Law Reviews

For article surveying legislative and judicial developments in Georgia local government law for 1978-79, see 31 Mercer L. Rev. 155 (1979). For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982). For annual survey on criminal law, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 83 (2012).