---
title: O.C.G.A. § 17-5-1. Search pursuant to lawful arrest authorized.
collection: code
id: 17-5-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 17-5-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-5-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-5-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-5-1/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=170
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/17-5.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/17-4-80.md
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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: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE / SEARCHES AND SEIZURES / SEARCHES WITHOUT WARRANTS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 17-5-1. Search pursuant to lawful arrest authorized.

(a) When a lawful arrest is effected a peace officer may reasonably search the person arrested and the area within the person’s immediate presence for the purpose of:

(1) Protecting the officer from attack;

(2) Preventing the person from escaping;

(3) Discovering or seizing the fruits of the crime for which the person has been arrested; or

(4) Discovering or seizing any instruments, articles, or things which are being used or which may have been used in the commission of the crime for which the person has been arrested.

(b) When the peace officer is in the process of effecting a lawful search, nothing in this Code section shall be construed to preclude him from discovering or seizing any stolen or embezzled property, any item, substance, object, thing, or matter, the possession of which is unlawful, or any item, substance, object, thing, or matter, other than the private papers of any person, which is tangible evidence of the commission of a crime against the laws of this state.

## History

Ga. L. 1966, p. 567, § 1.

## Law Reviews

For survey of 1987 Eleventh Circuit cases on constitutional criminal procedure, see 39 Mercer L. Rev. 1187 (1988). For survey article on criminal law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (2007).

For note, ‘‘Third Party Consent to Search and Seizure: A Reexamination,’’ see 20 J. of Pub. L. 313 (1971).