History. Ga. L. 1969, p. 759, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 874, §§ 1-4; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1212, § 2/SB 160; Ga. L. 2018, p. 550, § 2-3/SB 407.
The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, substituted the present provisions of subsection (a) for the former provisions, which read: “A law enforcement officer may arrest a person accused of violating any law or ordinance governing the operation, licensing, registration, maintenance, or inspection of motor vehicles or violating paragraph (2), (3), or (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 3-3-23 by the issuance of a citation, provided that the offense is committed in his presence or information constituting a basis for arrest concerning the operation of a motor vehicle or a violation of paragraph (2), (3), or (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 3-3-23 was received by the arresting officer from a law enforcement officer observing the offense being committed, except that, where the offense results in an accident, an investigating officer may issue citations regardless of whether the offense occurred in the presence of a law enforcement officer. The arresting officer shall issue to such person a citation which shall enumerate the specific charges against the person and the date upon which the person is to appear and answer the charges or a notation that the person will be later notified of the date upon which the person is to appear and answer the charges. Whenever an arresting officer makes an arrest concerning the operation of a motor vehicle based on information received from another law enforcement officer who observed the offense being committed, the citation shall list the name of each officer and each must be present when the charges against the accused person are heard.”; in subsection (b), deleted “person” following “If the accused” near the beginning, substituted “accused” for “person” near the middle of the first sentence and near the beginning of the second sentence, inserted “or she” in the middle of the first sentence, and inserted “or her” near the end of the first sentence; and added subsection (c).
Cross references.
Uniform traffic citation and complaint form, and prosecution of traffic offenses generally, T. 40, C. 13.
Law reviews.
For article on the 2018 amendment of this Code section, see 35 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 45 (2018).
For annual survey on criminal law, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 63 (2018).