---
title: O.C.G.A. § 42-4-5. Cruelty to inmates.
collection: code
id: 42-4-5
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 42-4-5 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-5
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-5.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/42-4-5/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=224
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
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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. § 42-4-5. Cruelty to inmates.

(a) No jailer, by duress or other cruel treatment, shall make or induce an inmate to accuse or give evidence against another; nor shall he be guilty of willful inhumanity or oppression to any inmate under his care and custody.

(b) Any jailer who violates subsection (a) of this Code section shall be punished by removal from office and imprisonment for not less than one year nor longer than three years.

## History

Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 805; Code 1863, § 4367; Code 1868, § 4405; Code 1873, § 4473; Code 1882, § 4473; Penal Code 1895, § 282; Penal Code 1910, § 286; Code 1933, §§ 77-104, 77-9901.

## Cross References

Prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, U.S. Const., amend. 8 and Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XVII.