---
title: O.C.G.A. § 40-5-54. Mandatory suspension of license; notice of suspension.
collection: code
id: 40-5-54
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 40-5-54 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/40-5-54
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/40-5-54.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/40-5-54/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t40-ch1-5-(v28a)-2024-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=636595ac_0#page=576
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: MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC / DRIVERS’ LICENSES / CANCELLATION, SUSPENSION, AND REVOCATION OF LICENSES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 40-5-54. Mandatory suspension of license; notice of suspension.

(a) The department shall forthwith suspend, as provided in Code Section 40-5-63, the license of any driver upon receiving a record of such driver’s conviction of the following offenses, whether charged as a violation of state law or of a local ordinance adopted pursuant to Article 14 of Chapter 6 of this title:

(1) Homicide by vehicle, as defined by Code Section 40-6-393;

(2) Any felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used;

(3) Hit and run or leaving the scene of an accident in violation of Code Section 40-6-270;

(4) Racing on highways and streets;

(5) Using a motor vehicle in fleeing or attempting to elude an officer; or

(6) Operating a motor vehicle with a revoked, canceled, or suspended registration in violation of Code Section 40-6-15.

(b) All judges of all courts having jurisdiction of the offenses set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section shall, at the time of sentencing, give notice to the defendant on forms prescribed by the department of the suspension of the defendant’s driver’s license. The period of suspension shall be determined by the department for the term authorized by law. The court shall forward the notice of suspension and the defendant’s driver’s license to the department within ten days from the date of conviction. The department shall notify the defendant of the period of suspension at the address provided by the defendant.

## History

Ga. L. 1939, p. 135, § 10; Ga. L. 1943, p. 196, § 5; Ga. L. 1951, p. 565, § 7A; Ga. L. 1956, p. 543, § 15; Ga. L. 1957, p. 124, § 4; Ga. L. 1964, p. 225, § 3; Ga. L. 1968, p. 430, § 8; Ga. L. 1971, p. 249, § 1; Code 1933, § 68B-305, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1073, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1000, § 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1082, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 897, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1284, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 940, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 5-16; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1024, § 4; Ga. L. 2004, p. 749, § 7; Ga. L. 2011, p. 355, § 4/HB 269; Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 4-13/SB 100.

## Cross References

Drag racing, § 40-6-186.

Laying drags, § 40-6-251.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2002, p. 1024, § 7, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective November 1, 2002; provided, however, that the Act shall be effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval for the purposes of the authority of the commissioner to adopt rules and regulations and to employ staff and expend moneys within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for such purpose.”

Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 6-1/SB 100, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Section 4-9 of Part IV of this Act shall become effective on January 1, 2016, and all other parts of this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2015, and shall apply to offenses which occur on or after that date.”

## Law Reviews

For article on the effect on receiving government-issued licenses after a conviction based on a nolo contendere plea, see 13 Ga. L. Rev. 723 (1979).