Unsecured judicial release; requirement; effect of failure of person charged to appear for trial

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) ‘‘Bail restricted offense’’ means the person is charged with: (A) An offense of: (i) Murder or felony murder, as defined in Code Section 16-5-1; (ii) Armed robbery, as defined in Code Section 16-8-41; (iii) Kidnapping, as defined in Code Section 16-5-40; (iv) Rape, as defined in Code Section 16-6-1; (v) Aggravated child molestation, as defined in subsection (c) of Code Section 16-6-4, unless subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of subsection (d) of Code Section 16-6-4; (vi) Aggravated sodomy, as defined in Code Section 16-6-2; or (vii) Aggravated sexual battery, as defined in Code Section 16-6-22.2; or (B) A felony offense of: (i) Aggravated assault; (ii) Aggravated battery; (iii) Hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree; (iv) Aggravated stalking; (v) Child molestation; (vi) Enticing a child for indecent purposes; (vii) Pimping; (viii) Robbery; (ix) Bail jumping; (x) Escape; (xi) Possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain crimes; (xii) Possession of firearms by convicted felons and first offender probationers; (xiii) Trafficking in cocaine, illegal drugs, marijuana, or methamphetamine; (xiv) Participating in criminal street gang activity; (xv) Habitual violator; or (xvi) Driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicating substances. (2) ‘‘Unsecured judicial release’’ means any release on a person’s own recognizance that does not purport a dollar amount through secured means as provided for in Code Section 17-6-4 or 17-6-50 or property as approved by the sheriff in the county where the offense was committed. (b) An elected judge or judge sitting by designation as provided for in subsection (c) or (d) of this Code section may issue an unsecured judicial release if: (1) Such unsecured judicial release is noted on the release order; and (2) Except as provided for in subsection (c) of this Code section, the person is not charged with a bail restricted offense. (c) A person charged with a bail restricted offense shall not be released on bail on an unsecured judicial release for the purpose of entering a pretrial release program, a pretrial release and diversion program as provided for in Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 42, or a pretrial intervention and diversion program as provided for in Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 15, or pursuant to Uniform Superior Court Rule 27. (d) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section and in addition to other laws regarding the release of an accused person, the judge of any court having jurisdiction over a person charged with committing an offense against the criminal laws of this state shall have authority, in his or her sound discretion and in appropriate cases, to authorize the release of the person on an unsecured judicial release only. (e) Upon the failure of a person released on an unsecured judicial release to appear for trial, if the release is not otherwise conditioned by the court, absent a finding of sufficient excuse to appear, the court shall summarily issue an order for his or her arrest which shall be enforced as in cases of forfeited bonds. History. — Ga. L. 1969, p. 72, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 2010, p. 226, § 2/HB 889; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 17/HB 142; Ga. L. 2017, p. 417, § 2-1/SB 104; Ga. L. 2018, p. 550, § 2-5/SB 407; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1112, § 17/SB 365; Ga. L. 2020, p. 570, § 1-1/SB 402. Delayed effective date. — This Code section, as set out above, becomes effective January 1, 2021. For version of this Code section in effect until January 1, 2021, see the 2020 amendment note. The 2018 amendments. — The first 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, in subsection (b), inserted ‘‘as provided for in Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 42’’ near the middle, deleted ‘‘or Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 42,’’ following ‘‘Title 15,’’, and inserted ‘‘, or other judge sitting by designation under the express written authority of such elected judge,’’ near the end; and, in subsection (d), deleted ‘‘only’’ following ‘‘recognizance’’, inserted ‘‘absent a finding of sufficient excuse to appear,’’, and substituted ‘‘shall’’ for ‘‘may’’ near the middle. The second 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted ‘‘Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 42’’ for ‘‘Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 42’’ in the middle of subsection (b). The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, added a colon to the end of the introductory clause in subsection (a); in paragraph (a)(1), substituted ‘‘(1) ‘Bail’ ’’ for ‘‘ ‘bail’ ’’; rewrote subparagraph (a)(1)(A), which read: ‘‘Aggravated assault’’; redesignated former paragraph (a)(2) as present subparagraph (a)(1)(B) and former subparagraphs (a)(2)(A) through (a)(2)(P) as present subdivisions (a)(1)(B)(i) through (a)(1)(B)(xvi), respectively; added paragraph (a)(2); added subsection (b); redesignated former subsections (b) through (d) as present subsections (c) through (e), respectively; in subsection (c), substituted ‘‘an unsecured judicial release’’ for ‘‘his or her own recognizance’’ and deleted ‘‘, unless an elected magistrate, elected state or superior court judge, or other judge sitting by designation under the express written authority of such elected judge, enters a written order to the contrary specifying the reasons why such person should be released upon his or her own recognizance.’’ following ‘‘Rule 27’’ at the end; in subsection (d), substituted ‘‘subsection (c)’’ for ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and substituted ‘‘on an unsecured judicial release’’ for ‘‘upon his or her own recognizance’’; and substituted ‘‘an unsecured judicial release’’ for ‘‘upon his or her own recognizance’’ in subsection (e).