---
title: O.C.G.A. § 42-4-1. Appointment of county and municipal jailers; arrest powers.
collection: code
id: 42-4-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 42-4-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-1/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t41-42-(v29a)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=686641d_0#page=36
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/42-4.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-3-119.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: PENAL INSTITUTIONS / JAILS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 42-4-1. Appointment of county and municipal jailers; arrest powers.

(a) By virtue of their offices, sheriffs are jailers of the counties and have the authority to appoint other jailers, subject to the supervision of the county governing authority, as prescribed by law.

(b) By virtue of their offices, chiefs of police are the jailers of the municipal corporations and have the authority to appoint other jailers, subject to the supervision of the municipal governing authority, as prescribed by law. Each jailer of a municipal corporation shall maintain the records required of sheriffs by subsection (a) of Code Section 42-4-7.

(c) Jailers who have been certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council as having successfully completed the course of training required by Chapter 8 of Title 35, the “Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act,” shall be authorized to arrest any person found to be in violation of a criminal law that occurs within the jail or within the perimeter guard lines of such jail established pursuant to subsection (j) of Code Section 42-4-13. Jailers shall be further authorized to exercise arrest powers upon any person for whom a complaint or arrest warrant is pending who surrenders into custody at his or her jail.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 331; Code 1868, § 392; Code 1873, § 356; Code 1882, § 356; Penal Code 1895, § 1120; Penal Code 1910, § 1149; Code 1933, § 77-101; Ga. L. 1988, p. 266, § 1; Ga. L. 2024, p. 502, § 3/SB 37, effective July 1, 2024.

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, added subsection (c).