---
title: O.C.G.A. § 17-11-1. Imposition of costs of prosecution upon defendant generally.
collection: code
id: 17-11-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 17-11-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-11-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-11-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-11-1/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=1278
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/17-11.md
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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: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE / ASSESSMENT AND PAYMENT OF COSTS OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 17-11-1. Imposition of costs of prosecution upon defendant generally.

The costs of a prosecution, except the fees of his own witnesses, shall not be demanded of a defendant until after trial and conviction. If convicted, judgment may be entered against the defendant for all costs accruing in the committing and trial courts and by any officer pending the prosecution. The judgment shall be a lien from the date of his arrest on all the property of the defendant. The clerk shall issue an execution on the judgment against the property.

## History

Laws 1816, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 857; Laws 1820, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 859; Laws 1826, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 859; Laws 1830, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 860; Code 1863, § 4581; Code 1868, § 4602; Code 1873, § 4699; Code 1882, § 4699; Penal Code 1895, § 1078; Penal Code 1910, § 1105; Code 1933, § 27-2801.

## Cross References

Duty of Department of Offender Rehabilitation to bear costs and expenses of trial involving inmate of state penal system who is charged with crime of escape or attempted escape or with offense occurring within confines of state correctional institution, § 42-5-3. Lien for costs of prosecution, § 44-5-210.

## Law Reviews

For article on whether one’s property is forfeited after a conviction based on a nolo contendere plea, see 13 Ga. L. Rev. 723 (1979). For annual survey of criminal law, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 129 (1986).