---
title: O.C.G.A. § 37-3-148. Right of patients or representatives to petition for writ of habeas corpus and for judicial protection of rights and privileges granted by this chapter.
collection: code
id: 37-3-148
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 37-3-148 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-148
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-148.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/37-3-148/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t37-t39-(v28)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=6f93000f_0#page=78
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
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: MENTAL HEALTH / EXAMINATION, TREATMENT, ETC., FOR MENTAL ILLNESS / RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF PATIENTS, THEIR REPRESENTATIVES, ETC., GENERALLY / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 37-3-148. Right of patients or representatives to petition for writ of habeas corpus and for judicial protection of rights and privileges granted by this chapter.

(a) At any time and without notice, a person detained by a facility or a mental health care agent, legal guardian, relative, or friend on behalf of such person may petition, as provided by law, for a writ of habeas corpus to question the cause and legality of detention and to request any court of competent jurisdiction on its own initiative to issue a writ for release, provided that, in the case of any such petition for the release of a person detained in a facility pursuant to a court order under Code Section 17-7-130 or 17-7-131, a copy of the petition along with proper certificate of service shall also be served upon the presiding judge of the court ordering such detention and the prosecuting attorney for such court, which service may be made by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested.

(b) A patient or his representatives may file a petition in the appropriate court alleging that the patient is being unjustly denied a right or privilege granted by this chapter or that a procedure authorized by this chapter is being abused. Upon the filing of such a petition, the court shall have the authority to conduct a judicial inquiry and to issue appropriate orders to correct any abuse under this chapter.

## History

Ga. L. 1958, p. 697, § 18; Ga. L. 1960, p. 837, § 17; Code 1933, § 88-517, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-502.11, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-502.14, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 678, § 2; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 37; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3; Ga. L. 2022, p. 611, § 2-25/HB 752.

## Law Reviews

For article, “HB 752: Psychiatric Advance Directive Act,” see 39 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 191 (2022).

## Amendments

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, substituted “a mental health care agent, legal guardian, relative, or friend” for “a relative or friend” in subsection (a).