Georgia Code
Part 2 - Insanity and Mental Incompetency
§ 17-7-131. Proceedings Upon Plea of Insanity or Mental Incompetency at Time of Crime

(2.1) A plea of not guilty by reason of insanity at the time of the crime shall not be accepted and the defendant adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity by the court without a jury until the defendant has undergone examination by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist and the court has examined the psychological or psychiatric reports, has held a hearing on the issue of the defendant’s mental condition, and the court is satisfied that the defendant was insane at the time of the crime according to the criteria of Code Section 16-3-2 or 16-3-3.
History. Orig. Code 1863, § 1314; Code 1868, § 1395; Code 1873, § 1374; Code 1882, § 1374; Penal Code 1895, § 952; Penal Code 1910, § 977; Code 1933, § 27-1503; Ga. L. 1952, p. 205, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 848, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 1293, § 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1476, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 17; Ga. L. 1985, p. 283, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 637, §§ 2-4; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1003, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 17; Ga. L. 1991, p. 780, §§ 1-3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1328, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 2006, p. 765, § 1/SB 398; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-2/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 337, § 9/HB 324; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 17/HB 79; Ga. L. 2017, p. 471, § 3/HB 343.
Cross references.
Mental capacity as it relates to culpability for criminal acts, § 16-3-2 et seq.
Mental incompetency to be executed, § 17-10-60 et seq.
Manner of service of petition for release of person detained in facility pursuant to court order under section, §§ 37-3-148 , 37-4-108 , 37-7-148 .
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1985, “Offender Rehabilitation” was changed to “Corrections” throughout this Code section and “and” was inserted after paragraph (f)(2).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1988, punctuation was revised in the introductory language of subsection (c).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1991, the parentheses enclosing “or she” following “he” in subparagraph (b)(3)(A) were deleted.
U.S. Code.
Defense of insanity, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 12.2.
Administrative rules and regulations.
Disposition of guilty but mentally ill and guilty but mentally retarded offenders, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Human Services, Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases, Subject 290-4-8.
Law reviews.
For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982).
For lecture on law and the unreasonable person, see 36 Emory L.J. 181 (1987).
For survey of 1986 Eleventh Circuit cases on constitutional criminal procedure, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 1141 (1987).
For annual survey on criminal law and procedure, see 42 Mercer L. Rev. 141 (1990).
For survey article on criminal law and procedure for the period from June 1, 2002 through May 31, 2003, see 55 Mercer L. Rev. 117 (2003).
For annual survey of death penalty law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 197 (2004).
For annual survey of death penalty decisions, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 139 (2005).
For annual survey on criminal law, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 83 (2012).
For annual survey on the death penalty, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 109 (2012).
For article, “Annual Survey of Georgia Law: June 1, 2015 — May 31, 2016: Special Contribution: Georgia’s Safe Harbor Ruling for Affirmative Defenses in Criminal Cases Should Be Revisited,” see 68 Mercer L. Rev. 35 (2016).
For article, “An Empirical Assessment of Georgia’s Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Standard to Determine Intellectual Disability in Capital Cases,” see 33 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 553 (2017).
For annual survey on criminal law, see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 73 (2017).
For note, “Commitment and Release of Persons Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A Georgia Perspective,” see 15 Ga. L. Rev. 1065 (1981).
For note on 1991 amendment of this Code section, see 8 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 121 (1992).
For note, “Can’t Do the Time, Don’t Do the Crime?: Dixon v. State, Statutory Construction, and the Harsh Realities of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing in Georgia,” see 22 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 519 (2005).
For comment advocating legislative determination of parental liability for costs of institutional custody of child involuntarily committed to a mental health facility in response to criminal behavior in light of Treglown v. Department of Health & Social Servs., 38 Wis.2d 317, 156 N.W.2d 363 (1968), see 19 Mercer L. Rev. 457 (1968).
For comment, “Capital Punishment: New Weapons in the Sentencing Process,” see 24 Ga. L. Rev. 423 (1990).

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