Georgia Code
Article 2 - Issuance, Expiration, and Renewal of Licenses
§ 40-5-25. Applications; Fees; Provisions for Voluntary Participation in Various Programs

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The commissioner may by rule provide incentive discounts in otherwise applicable fees reflecting cost savings to the department where a license is renewed by means other than personal appearance. The discount for renewal of a Class C or Class M license and any other discounts shall be as determined by the commissioner. Except as provided in Code Section 40-5-36, relating to veterans’ licenses, and Code Section 40-5-149, relating to application fees for public school bus drivers, there shall be no exceptions to the fee requirements for a commercial driver’s license or a commercial driver’s license permit. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section, there shall be no fee whatsoever for replacement of any driver’s license solely due to a change of the licensee’s name or address, provided that such replacement license shall be valid only for the remaining period of such original license; and provided, further, that only one such free replacement license may be obtained within the period for which the license was originally issued. Any application for the replacement of a lost license pursuant to Code Section 40-5-31 or due to a change in the licensee’s name or address submitted within 150 days of the expiration of said license shall be treated as an application for renewal subject to the applicable license fees as set forth in this subsection. The maximum period for which any driver’s license shall be issued is eight years.
History. Ga. L. 1937, p. 322, art. 4, § 5; Ga. L. 1943, p. 196, § 5; Ga. L. 1947, p. 294, § 1; Ga. L. 1951, p. 157, § 7; Ga. L. 1955, p. 662, § 1; Ga. L. 1955, Ex. Sess., p. 35, § 1; Ga. L. 1961, p. 136, § 2; Ga. L. 1961, p. 433, § 1; Ga. L. 1964, p. 171, § 1; Code 1933, § 68B-206, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 819, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 519, § 9; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 40; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 40; Ga. L. 1992, p. 779, § 18; Ga. L. 1993, p. 615, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1390, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1876, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 228, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 13; Ga. L. 1999, p. 537, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, §§ 5-8, 5-9; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1045, § 3; Ga. L. 2003, p. 415, § 9; Ga. L. 2005, p. 334, § 17-6/HB 501; Ga. L. 2006, p. 72, § 40/SB 465; Ga. L. 2008, p. 171, § 3/HB 1111; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 9, § 1-79/HB 1055; Ga. L. 2010, p. 932, § 7/HB 396; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 6-3/HB 214; Ga. L. 2012, p. 72, § 2A/SB 236; Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, §§ 4-9, 4-10/SB 100; Ga. L. 2017, p. 184, § 3/HB 136; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 40/HB 323; Ga. L. 2021, p. 403, § 5/HB 466.
The 2015 amendments. —
The first 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted “this state” for “the state” in paragraph (d)(1); and substituted the present provisions of paragraph (d)(2) for the former provisions, which read “The department shall make available to those federally designated organ procurement organizations the name, license number, date of birth, and most recent address of any person who obtains an organ donor driver’s license. Information so obtained by such organizations shall be used for the purpose of establishing a state-wide organ donor registry accessible to organ tissue and eye banks authorized to function as such in this state and shall not be further disseminated.”; and, in paragraph (e)(1), substituted “best interest of this state” for “best interests of the state” near the beginning, and substituted “screenings, treatments, and rehabilitation” for “screenings and treatments” near the end. See Editor’s notes for applicability. The second 2015 amendment, effective January 1, 2016, in subsection (b), inserted “when the knowledge test is to be administered by the department” at the end of the first sentence in paragraph (b)(1), added paragraph (b)(2), and redesignated former paragraph (b)(2) as present paragraph (b)(3).
The 2017 amendments. —
The first 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, deleted paragraph (a)(3), which read: “For Classes A, B, C, and M commercial drivers’ licenses . . . . . . . . 20.00”; redesignated former paragraphs (a)(4) through (a)(6) as present paragraphs (a)(3) through (a)(5), respectively; added paragraph (a)(5.1); redesignated former paragraph (a)(7) as present paragraph (a)(6); added paragraph (a)(6.1); redesignated former paragraph (a)(8) as present paragraph (a)(7); inserted “up to five year” in paragraphs (a)(5), (a)(6), and (a)(7); added paragraph (a)(7.1); redesignated former paragraph (a)(8.1) as present paragraph (a)(7.2), and, in paragraph (a)(7.2), substituted “up to five year” for “five-year”; and redesignated former paragraphs (a)(8.2) and (a)(9) as present paragraphs (a)(7.3) and (a)(8), respectively. The second 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “instruction permit” for “instructional permit” in the last sentence of paragraph (b)(1).
The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, deleted “licensed” following “administered by a” in the middle of paragraph (b)(2); and substituted “subsection (a.2)” for “subsection (a)” in the third sentence of subsection (f).
Cross references.
Prescribed courses — Development and dissemination of instructional materials on effect of alcohol, § 20-2-142 .
Mandatory instruction concerning alcohol and drug use, § 20-2-144 .
Blindness education, screening, and treatment program, § 31-1-23.
Replacement of licenses, state identification cards, and other documents during periods of natural disaster, § 50-1-9 .
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1993, “Notwithstanding any” was substituted for “Notwithstanding, any” in the fourth sentence of the paragraph following the form in subsection (a).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1994, “driver’s license” was substituted for “drivers’ license” in the first sentence of paragraph (d)(2).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Teen-age and Adult Driver Responsibility Act’. ”
Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 27, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment made by that Act to this Code section shall apply to offenses committed on or after July 1, 1997, and shall not apply to offenses committed prior to that date.
Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 6-1/SB 100, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Section 4-9 of Part IV of this Act shall become effective on January 1, 2016, and all other parts of this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2015, and shall apply to offenses which occur on or after that date.”
Law reviews.
For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 203 (1997).