---
title: O.C.G.A. § 9-14-1. Who may seek writ.
collection: code
id: 9-14-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 9-14-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-14-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-14-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-14-1/text
source_url: https://archive.org/download/gov.ga.ocga.2024/T09%20Ch12-16%20%28V7A%29%202015.pdf#page=307
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/9-14.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/9-13-178.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: CIVIL PRACTICE / HABEAS CORPUS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
extraction_warnings:
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---

# O.C.G.A. § 9-14-1. Who may seek writ.

(a) Any person restrained of his liberty under any pretext whatsoever, except under sentence of a state court of record, may seek a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the legality of the restraint.

(b) Any person alleging that another person in whom for any cause he is interested is kept illegally from the custody of the applicant may seek a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the legality of the restraint.

(c) Any person restrained of his liberty as a result of a sentence imposed by any state court of record may seek a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the legality of the restraint.

## History

Cobb’s 1851 Digest, pp. 1131-1134; Code 1863, § 3909; Code 1868, § 3933; Code 1873, § 4009; Code 1882, § 4009; Penal Code 1895, § 1210; Penal Code 1910, § 1291; Code 1933, § 50-101; Ga. L. 1967, p. 835, § 2.

## Cross References

Procedure for seeking writ of habeas corpus by person whose liberty is being restrained by virtue of sentence imposed by state court of record, § 9-14-40 et seq.

## Law Reviews

For survey article on domestic relations, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 113 (1982).

For note, ‘‘Seen But Not Heard: An Argument for Granting Evidentiary Hearings to Weigh the Credibility of Recanted Testimony,’’ see 46 Ga. L. Rev. 213 (2011).

For comment, ‘‘Has Habeas Corpus Been Suspended in Georgia? Representing Indigent Prisoners on Georgia’s Death Row,’’ see 17 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 605 (2000).