---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-6-8. Public indecency.
collection: code
id: 16-6-8
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-6-8 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-8
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-8.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-8/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=1233
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 / SEXUAL OFFENSES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-6-8. Public indecency.

(a) A person commits the offense of public indecency when he or she performs any of the following acts in a public place:

(1) An act of sexual intercourse;

(2) A lewd exposure of the sexual organs;

(3) A lewd appearance in a state of partial or complete nudity; or

(4) A lewd caress or indecent fondling of the body of another person.

(b) A person convicted of the offense of public indecency as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be punished as for a misdemeanor except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section.

(c) Upon a third or subsequent conviction for public indecency for the violation of paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (a) of this Code section, a person shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.

(d) For the purposes of this Code section only, ‘‘public place’’ shall include jails and penal and correctional institutions of the state and its political subdivisions.

(e) This Code section shall be cumulative to and shall not prohibit the enactment of any other general and local laws, rules, and regulations of state and local authorities or agencies and local ordinances prohibiting such activities which are more restrictive than this Code section.

## History

Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 815; Code 1863, § 4420; Ga. L. 1865-66, p. 233, § 2; Code 1868, § 4461; Code 1873, § 4535; Code 1882, § 4535; Penal Code 1895, § 390; Penal Code 1910, § 381; Code 1933, § 26-6101; Code 1933, § 26-2011, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 966, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 16; Ga. L. 1996, p. 312, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 354, § 1.

## Cross References

Computer pornography and child exploitation prevention, § 16-12-100.2.

## Code Commission Notes

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, subsection (d) which was added by Ga. L. 1996, p. 354, § 1, was redesignated as subsection (e).

## Law Reviews

For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982). For article, ‘‘Misdemeanor Sentencing in Georgia,’’ see 7 Ga. St. B. J. 8 (2001).

For note, ‘‘Pedophilia, Exhibitionism, and Voyeurism: Legal Problems in the Deviant Society,’’ see 4 Ga. L. Rev. 149 (1969).

For comment on Byous v. State, 121 Ga. App. 654, 175 S.E.2d 106 (1970), see 21 Mercer L. Rev. 695 (1970). For comment on Jenkins v. State, 230 Ga. 726, 199 S.E.2d 183 (1973), see 8 Ga. L. Rev. 225 (1973). For comment on Slaton v. Paris Adult Theatre I, 231 Ga. 312, 201 S.E.2d 456 (1973), see 8 Ga. L. Rev. 225 (1973).