Georgia Code
Article 3 - Cancellation, Suspension, and Revocation of Licenses
§ 40-5-64. Limited Driving Permits for Certain Offenders

(c.1)
Exception to standards for approval.

History. Code 1933, § 68B-311, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 648, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 225, § 3; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1000, § 7; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 40; Ga. L. 1985, p. 758, § 9; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 779, § 21; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2564, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2785, § 11; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1600, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 18; Ga. L. 1999, p. 391, § 5; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 5-27; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1457, § 4; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1324, § 1-20; Ga. L. 2003, p. 796, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 471, § 6; Ga. L. 2006, p. 449, § 10/HB 1253; Ga. L. 2008, p. 171, § 7/HB 1111; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 199, § 3/HB 258; Ga. L. 2010, p. 932, § 14/HB 396; Ga. L. 2011, p. 355, § 8/HB 269; Ga. L. 2012, p. 72, § 5/SB 236; Ga. L. 2013, p. 878, § 2/HB 407; Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 4-17/SB 100; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-59/HB 310; Ga. L. 2016, p. 323, § 1-1/HB 205; Ga. L. 2016, p. 443, § 4-6/SB 367; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 40/HB 323; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1112, § 40/SB 365; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 40/SB 52; Ga. L. 2021, p. 228, § 5/HB 534; Ga. L. 2022, p. 185, § 2/HB 246.
The 2016 amendments.
The first 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, rewrote this Code section. The second 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, in subsection (c), inserted “the term” preceding “ ‘extreme hardship’ ” in the second sentence; in paragraph (c)(6), substituted “office, reporting” for “office or reporting”, added a comma following “Title 42”, and deleted “or” at the end; in paragraph (c)(7), substituted “to obtain medical care or prescriptions, or to school; or” for “medical care, or prescriptions or to school.”; added paragraph (c)(8); added subparagraph (c.1)(2)(B); redesignated former subparagraphs (c.1)(2)(B) and (c.1)(2)(C) as present subparagraphs (c.1)(2)(C) and (c.1)(2)(D), respectively; deleted “and” at the end of subparagraph (c.1)(2)(D); added subparagraphs (c.1)(2)(E) through (c.1)(2)(H); redesignated former subparagraph (c.1)(2)(D) as present subparagraph (c.1)(2)(I); in paragraph (e)(1), at the beginning of the first sentence, substituted “A limited driving permit” for “A permit”, substituted “Limited driving permits” for “Permits” at the beginning of the fourth sentence, substituted “Such permits may be renewed one time after the person is eligible to reinstate his or her driver’s license” for “Permits may be renewed until the person has his or her license reinstated” in the fifth sentence; and, in the last sentence of paragraph (e)(2), substituted “such permit may be renewed for additional periods of two months upon payment of a renewal fee of $5.00, but it may only be renewed one time after such person is eligible to reinstate his or her driver’s license” for “the permit may be renewed for additional periods of two months as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection”.
The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “ignition interlock device limited driving permit” for “ignition interlock limited driving permit” in paragraph (a)(2). See Editor’s notes regarding the effect of this amendment.
The 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, deleted the paragraph (e)(1) designation and redesignated former paragraph (e)(2) as present paragraph (d)(1) of Code Section 40-5-64.1.
The 2019 amendment, effective May 12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, in paragraph (c)(6), revised punctuation and deleted “or” preceding “reporting to”.
The 2021 amendment, effective May 3, 2021, rewrote paragraph (a)(1) which read: “Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Code section or Code Section 40-5-57, 40-5-63, 40-5-75, 40-5-121, or 42-8-111, any person who has not been previously convicted or adjudicated delinquent for a violation of Code Section 40-6-391 within five years, as measured from the dates of previous arrests for which convictions were obtained or pleas of nolo contendere were accepted to the date of the current arrest, may apply for a limited driving permit when that person’s driver’s license had a suspension imposed prior to July 1, 2015, under Code Section 40-5-22 or that person’s driver’s license has been suspended in accordance with subsection (d) of Code Section 40-5-57, paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-5-63, paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-5-67.2, or subsection (a) of Code Section 40-5-57.1, when the person is 18 years of age or older and his or her license was suspended for exceeding the speed limit by 24 miles per hour or more but less than 34 miles per hour, and the sentencing judge, in his or her discretion, decides it is reasonable to issue a limited driving permit.”; and rewrote subsection (e), which read: “A limited driving permit issued pursuant to this Code section shall be $25.00 and shall become invalid upon the driver’s eighteenth birthday in the case of a suspension under paragraph (2) of subsection (a.1) of Code Section 40-5-22, upon the expiration of one year following issuance thereof in the case of a suspension for an offense listed in Code Section 40-5-54 or a suspension under Code Section 40-5-57 or a suspension in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-5-63 for a violation of Code Section 40-6-391, or upon the expiration of 30 days in the case of an administrative license suspension in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-5-67.2; except that such limited driving permit shall expire upon any earlier reinstatement of the driver’s license. A person may apply to the department for a limited driving permit immediately following such conviction if he or she has surrendered his or her driver’s license to the court in which the conviction was adjudged or to the department if the department has processed the administrative driver’s license suspension form or conviction. Upon the applicant’s execution of an affidavit attesting to such facts and to the fact that the court had not imposed a suspension or revocation of his or her driver’s license or driving privileges inconsistent with the driving privileges to be conferred by the limited driving permit applied for, the department may issue such person a limited driving permit. Limited driving permits issued pursuant to this Code section are renewable upon payment of a renewal fee of $5.00. Such permits may be renewed one time after the person is eligible to reinstate his or her driver’s license for the violation that was the basis of the issuance of the permit. Upon payment of a fee in an amount the same as that provided by Code Section 40-5-25 for issuance of a Class C driver’s license, a person may be issued a replacement for a lost or destroyed limited driving permit issued to him or her.” See Editor’s notes for applicability.
The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, substituted “shall be $32.00” for “shall be $25.00” in paragraph (e)(1) and substituted “fee of $10.00” for “fee of $5.00” in paragraph (e)(3).
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2016, the amendment of this Code section to subsection (c.1) and paragraph (e)(2) by Ga. L. 2016, p. 323, § 1-1/HB 205, was treated as impliedly repealed and superseded by Ga. L. 2016, p. 443, § 4-6/SB 367 due to irreconcilable conflict.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2017, the paragraph (1) designation was deleted from subsection (c.1) and former paragraph (c.1)(2) was transferred from Code Section 40-5-64 to Code Section 40-5-64.1 and was renumbered as present subsection (e).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1994, p. 1600, § 11, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the provisions of the Act shall apply only to cases arising out of arrests occurring on or after January 1, 1995, except that the provisions amending subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-391.1, restricting the acceptance of a plea of nolo contendere to a charge of violating Code Section 40-6-391, and the provisions amending subsection (c) of Code Section 40-6-391, changing the criminal penalties for violations of the section, shall become effective July 1, 1994, and except that the provisions amending subsection (g) of Code Section 40-5-67.1, relating to the time for requesting a hearing on an administrative suspension, the stay of a suspension pending such hearing, and the early termination of an administrative suspension under certain conditions shall apply to cases pending on July 1, 1994.
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. 1999, p. 391, § 2, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as ‘Heidi’s Law.’ ”
Ga. L. 2013, p. 878, § 5/HB 407, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2013, and shall apply to offenses committed on or after such 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.”
Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective July 1, 2015, and shall apply to sentences entered on or after such date.”
Ga. L. 2015, p. 60, § 4-17/SB 100, purported to amend subsection (a) but only amended paragraph (a)(1).
Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 40/HB 323, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, purported to revise a term in this Code section; however, such term no longer exists in such Code section, thus this amendment has not been given effect.
Ga. L. 2021, p. 228, § 11/HB 534, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval and shall apply to all offenses committed on and after such date.” This Act was approved by the Governor on May 3, 2021.
Law reviews.
For note on 1992 amendment of this Code section, see 9 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 298 (1992).
For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 203 (1997).
For note on 1999 amendment to this Code section, see 16 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 200 (1999).
For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015).
For article on the 2016 amendment of this Code section, see 33 Georgia St. U. L. Rev. 139 (2016).