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New Citations for City/County Ordinance Violations
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Hello Everyone
I just got notified from our Court Clerk about the new required citation form for city ordinance violations. Below is the wording from an email sent out by GACP. This was the first I had heard about this and it was effective 1/1/19. If you have any questions I will be glad to try and help, but right now I am in the same boat as everyone else. I have also attached our PDF of the form, which should be two sided forms. Our City is trying to create a new Protocol due to this new law (Police and Code Enforcement). I'll share any further info when I get it, but feel free to share whatever y'all have setup.
As part of Governor Nathan Deal's 2017 Criminal Justice Reform Bill, SB 407 attempted some measure of Bail Reform by permitting courts to authorize the release of arrested persons without the requirement of bail being posted. Click on the following link to see the final version of the bill:
Criminal Justice Reform Bill, SB 407
Section 2-1 of the new law authorized the Judicial Council of Georgia to develop "a uniform misdemeanor citation and complaint form for use by all law enforcement officials who are empowered to arrest individuals for misdemeanors and local ordinance violations." The Judicial Council has recently published this form for agencies to begin using. Click on the following link to download a .pdf version of the form:
Uniform Misdemeanor Citation and Complaint Form
Effective January 1, 2019, officers will be required to use the new citation form for all city ordinance violations as well as the following specific crimes when arrested by citation:
The officer must ensure individuals arrested for these five offenses are fingerprinted prior to being released. It is important to note there are three sections on the form where the Municipal Court Judge must provide the narrative to be added including Court Information (pg.1), How to Contact the Court (pg. 2), and Appearance Instructions (pg. 3). This complaint form does not replace the Uniform Traffic Citation form authorized in O.C.G.A. § 40-13-1 that is used by officers to enforce traffic laws and ordinances. Rather, it is designed to serve as a citation by officers for other crimes and ordinance violations as well as a charging form for the courts. Because of this, when an officer is completing the narrative section, they must provide enough information in that section to survive a demurrer by providing the essential elements of the crime and facts to show how the defendant violated the listed code section. Finally, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has created Rules for Use of Misdemeanor Citation, Accusation and Summons. Please refer to these rules when implementing this citation program. Click on the following link to access AOC Rules for the Uniform Citation:
AOC Rules for the Uniform Citation
Agencies with questions regarding this new directive should contact the Administrative Office of the Courts at 404-656-5171 or the Prosecuting Attorney's Council at 404-282-6300.
Senoia Summons.pdf