---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13. Penalties for violating Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12.
collection: code
id: 16-6-13
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-13
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-13.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-13/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch1-6-(v14)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=e7841a34_0#page=193
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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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
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 / SEXUAL OFFENSES
extraction_warnings:
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---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13. Penalties for violating Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, a person convicted of violating:

(1) Code Section 16-6-10 shall be punished as for a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and at the sole discretion of the judge, all but 24 hours of any term of imprisonment imposed may be suspended, stayed, or probated;

(2) Code Section 16-6-9 shall be punished as for a misdemeanor;

(3) Code Section 16-6-11 for a:

(A) First offense shall be punished as for a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and at the sole discretion of the judge, all but 72 hours of any term of imprisonment imposed may be suspended, stayed, or probated; and

(B) Second or subsequent offense shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than ten years; or

(4) Code Section 16-6-12 for a:

(A) First offense shall be punished as for a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and at the sole discretion of the judge, all but 72 hours of any term of imprisonment imposed may be suspended, stayed, or probated; and

(B) Second or subsequent offense shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than ten years.

(b) Reserved.

(c)(1) The clerk of the court in which a person is convicted of pandering shall cause to be published a notice of conviction for each such person convicted. Such notices of conviction shall be published in the manner of legal notices in the legal organ of the county in which such person resides or, in the case of nonresidents, in the legal organ of the county in which the person was convicted. Such notice of conviction shall be one column wide by two inches long and shall contain the photograph taken by the arresting law enforcement agency at the time of arrest, name, and address of the convicted person and the date, time, place of arrest, and disposition of the case and shall be published once in the legal organ of the appropriate county in the second week following such conviction or as soon thereafter as publication may be made.

(2) The convicted person for which a notice of conviction is published pursuant to this subsection shall be assessed the cost of publication of such notice and such assessment shall be imposed at the time of conviction in addition to any other fine imposed pursuant to this Code section.

(3) The clerk of the court, the publisher of any legal organ which publishes a notice of conviction, and any other person involved in the publication of an erroneous notice of conviction shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for such erroneous publication, provided such publication was made in good faith.

(d) In addition to any other penalty authorized under subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section, a person convicted of an offense enumerated in Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12 shall be fined $2,500.00 if such offense was committed within 1,000 feet of any school building, school grounds, public place of worship, or playground or recreation center which is used primarily by persons under the age of 17 years.

## History

Code 1933, § 26-2015, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1970, p. 236, § 4; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1797, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 16; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1301, § 2; Ga. L. 2001, p. 92, § 4; Ga. L. 2003, p. 878, § 1.1; Ga. L. 2011, p. 217, § 2/HB 200; Ga. L. 2017, p. 489, § 3/HB 341; Ga. L. 2019, p. 73, § 1/HB 281; Ga. L. 2019, p. 74, § 1-7/SB 158; Ga. L. 2025, p. 697, § 1/SB 42, effective May 14, 2025.

## Law Reviews

For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 63 (2019).

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective May 14, 2025, substituted “Reserved.” for the former provisions of subsection (b).