---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-10-56. Unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution.
collection: code
id: 16-10-56
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-10-56 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-10-56
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-10-56.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-10-56/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=707
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 / ESCAPE AND OTHER OFFENSES RELATED TO CONFINEMENT
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-10-56. Unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term ‘‘penal institution’’ means any place of confinement for persons accused of or convicted of violating a law of this state or an ordinance of a municipality or political subdivision of this state.

(b) No person legally confined to a penal institution shall commit an unlawful act of violence or any other act in a violent or tumultuous manner in a penal institution.

(c) Any person who violates this Code section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than 20 years.

## History

Code 1981, § 16-10-56, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 137, § 1.1; Ga. L. 2017, p. 500, § 3-5/SB 160.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2017, p. 500, § 1-1/SB 160, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: ‘‘This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Back the Badge Act of 2017.’’’

## Law Reviews

For annual survey on criminal law, see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 73 (2017). For article on the 2017 amendment of this Code section, see 34 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 89 (2017).

For note on the 1995 enactment of this Code section, see 12 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 112 (1995).

## Other Notes

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, added subsection (a); redesignated former subsection (a) as present subsection (b); substituted the present provisions of subsection (b) for the former provisions, which read: ‘‘Any person legally confined to any penal institution of this state or of any political subdivision of this state who commits an unlawful act of violence or any other act in a violent or tumultuous manner commits the offense of riot in a penal institution.’’; redesignated former subsection (b) as present subsection (c), and, in subsection (c), substituted ‘‘violates this Code section shall be guilty’’ for ‘‘violates subsection (a) of this Code section is guilty’’, and inserted ‘‘year’’ near the end.