---
title: O.C.G.A. § 17-10-13. Legal adjudication of guilt in court having jurisdiction to precede assessment of punishment.
collection: code
id: 17-10-13
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 17-10-13 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-10-13
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-10-13.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-10-13/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t17-(v15)-2020-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=8c04ccfe_0#page=1174
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.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-10.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-10-12.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-10-14.md
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: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE / SENTENCE AND PUNISHMENT / PROCEDURE FOR SENTENCING AND IMPOSITION OF PUNISHMENT
---

# O.C.G.A. § 17-10-13. Legal adjudication of guilt in court having jurisdiction to precede assessment of punishment.

The punishments prescribed by this Code shall be assessed only after a legal adjudication of guilt in a court having jurisdiction.

## History

Penal Code 1895, § 20; Penal Code 1910, § 20; Code 1933, § 27-2509.

## Law Reviews

For article on the effect of nolo contendere plea on conviction, see 13 Ga. L. Rev. 723 (1979). For annual survey of death penalty decisions, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 139 (2005); 58 Mercer L. Rev. 111 (2006).