---
title: O.C.G.A. § 42-12-4. Payment from prisoner’s inmate account for costs and fees of action commenced by prisoner.
collection: code
id: 42-12-4
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 42-12-4 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-12-4
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-12-4.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-12-4/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t41-t42-(v29a)-2023-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=4afea80d_0#page=665
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/42-12.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-12-3.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-12-5.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: PENAL INSTITUTIONS / PRISON LITIGATION REFORM
---

# O.C.G.A. § 42-12-4. Payment from prisoner’s inmate account for costs and fees of action commenced by prisoner.

The following provisions shall apply when an indigent prisoner commences an action:

(1) The indigent prisoner shall pay the current balance of funds in the prisoner’s inmate account;

(2) The clerk of court shall notify the superintendent of the institution in which the prisoner is incarcerated that an action has been filed. Notice to the superintendent shall include:

(A) The prisoner’s name, inmate number, and civil action number; and

(B) The amount of the court costs and fees due and payable;

(3) Upon notification by the clerk of court that an indigent prisoner has commenced an action, the superintendent shall:

(A) Immediately freeze the prisoner’s inmate account; and

(B) Order that all moneys deposited into the prisoner’s inmate account be forwarded to the clerk until all court costs and fees are satisfied, whereupon the freezing of the account shall be terminated.

## History

Code 1981, § 42-12-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 400, § 1.

## Code Commission Notes

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, “superintendent” was substituted for “superintendant” in the second sentence of paragraph (2).