---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-2-1. ‘‘Crime’’ defined.
collection: code
id: 16-2-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-2-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-2-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-2-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-2-1/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch1-6-(v14)-2019-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=af47a366_0#page=136
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: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / CRIMINAL LIABILITY / CULPABILITY
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-2-1. ‘‘Crime’’ defined.

(a) A ‘‘crime’’ is a violation of a statute of this state in which there is a joint operation of an act or omission to act and intention or criminal negligence.

(b) Criminal negligence is an act or failure to act which demonstrates a willful, wanton, or reckless disregard for the safety of others who might reasonably be expected to be injured thereby.

## History

Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 779; Code 1863, § 4188; Code 1868, § 4227; Code 1873, § 4292; Code 1882, § 4292; Penal Code 1895, § 31; Penal Code 1910, § 31; Code 1933, § 26-201; Code 1933, § 26-601, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 57, § 2.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2004, p. 57, § 6, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment by that Act shall apply to all crimes which occur on or after July 1, 2004.

## Law Reviews

For article on 2004 amendment of this Code section, see 21 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 45 (2004).

For note, ‘‘I Tolled You I Had More Time!: The Future of Tolling Looks Bright for Crime Victims, as the Georgia Court of Appeals Establishes New Meaning of O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99,’’ see 68 Mercer L. Rev. 557 (2017).