Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 45. PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES · Chapter 16. CORONERS · Article 2. DEATH INVESTIGATIONS

45-16-34. Issuance of subpoenas; administration of oath to witnesses.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

(a)
The coroner shall issue subpoenas to or otherwise compel the attendance of witnesses; and he shall administer to such witnesses the following oath:#
1. ‘‘The evidence that you shall give this inquest on behalf of the state concerning the death of (or a person unknown, as the case may be) shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.’’
(b)
When a coroner conducts an inquest into the death of an individual, he shall be authorized to issue subpoenas to compel production of any books, records, or papers relevant to the cause of death. Any books, records, or papers received by the coroner pursuant to the subpoena must be regarded as confidential information and privileged and not subject to disclosure under Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50. The actual costs of copying any books, records, or papers for the purpose of responding to a coroner’s subpoena under this subsection shall be paid out of county funds to the person or entity required to respond to that subpoena, and the governing authority of the county of which that coroner is a public officer shall pay those costs within 30 days after a bill therefor is submitted to the county; provided, however, that the county shall not be responsible for duplication costs under $25.00.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Laws 1823, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 539; Code 1863, § 4007; Code 1868, § 4035; Code 1873, § 4106; Code 1882, § 4106; Penal Code 1895, § 1263; Penal Code 1910, § 1345; Code 1933, § 21-207; Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 602, § 11; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1594, § 3; Ga. L. 1988, p. 13, § 45; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1735, § 3.

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Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t45-(v33)-2016-pdf.pdf, Volume V33, 2016 edition, page 458; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 7dfce9a0fd88.

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