GA Code § 40-5-29 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic|Chapter 5 - Drivers' Licenses|Article 2 - Issuance, Expiration, and Renewal of Licenses|§ 40-5-29. License to Be Carried and Exhibited on Demand

  Every licensee shall have his or her driver's license in his or her immediate possession at all times when operating a motor vehicle.Any person who has a receipt issued by the department reflecting issuance, renewal, replacement, or reinstatement of his or her driver's license in his or her immediate possession shall be considered to have such license in his or her immediate possession if such is confirmed to be valid by the department or through the Georgia Crime Information Center.The department may establish by rule and regulation the term of such receipt.Notwithstanding the foregoing, no receipt issued by the department shall be accepted as proof of such person's identity for any other purpose, including but not limited to proof of voter identification or proof of age for purposes of purchasing alcoholic beverages.     Every licensee shall display his or her license upon the demand of a law enforcement officer. When records of the department indicate that a license has been issued in an electronic format, a law enforcement officer may demand such display be made by physical format. In such instances, if a law enforcement officer demands display of the physical format, the licensee shall not be compelled to display an electronic format of his or her license nor release his or her wireless telecommunications device to the officer. A refusal to comply with such demand not only shall constitute a violation of this subsection but shall also give rise to a presumption of a violation of subsection (a) of this Code section and of Code Section 40-5-20.   Any person utilizing a wireless telecommunications device to display his or her license in electronic format in order to comply with subsection (a) of this Code section shall not be considered to have consented to a search of such device by a law enforcement officer.   For purposes of this subsection, the term "wireless telecommunications device" shall have the same meaning as provided in Code Section 40-6-241.     A person convicted of a violation of subsection (a) of this Code section shall be fined no more than $10.00 if he or she produces in court a license theretofore issued to him or her and valid at the time of his or her arrest.    (Ga. L. 1937, p. 322, art. 4, § 7; Ga. L. 1951, p. 598, § 4; Code 1933, § 68B-210, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 2014, p. 710, § 2-2/SB 298; Ga. L. 2020, p. 199, § 3-3/HB 463.)    The 2020 amendment,  effective June 30, 2020, designated the existing provisions of subsection (b) as paragraph (b)(1); added the second and third sentence in paragraph (b)(1); and added paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3).   Cross references.   - Requirement of compliance with lawful order or direction of officer authorized to direct, control, or regulate traffic, § 40-6-2.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS    Legislative intent in reducing the punishment for failure of a licensee to have a driver's license in the licenser's possession when operating a vehicle to a fine of ten dollars precluded imposition of a sentence to a consecutive 12 months' probation. Crain v. State, 197 Ga. App. 729, 399 S.E.2d 289 (1990).   Presumption upon failure to have license in possession.    - There existed no reversible error when the defendant was accused of (and subsequently convicted of) driving a vehicle without a valid license (see O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20), but the offense on which the jury was charged concerned the failure to have a valid license in one's possession at all times while operating a motor vehicle and the presumption thereby raised that the driver had no valid license. Roberts v. State, 173 Ga. App. 614, 327 S.E.2d 743 (1985).    Limiting O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20(a)'s safe harbor to the production at trial of a Georgia driver's license was a rational part of the enforcement scheme, allowing the presumption created by a violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-29(b) to be automatically rebutted only when the evidence that the driver in fact had a valid license when cited was most indisputable and readily evaluated by the factfinder. Castillo-Solis v. State, 292 Ga. 755, 740 S.E.2d 583 (2013).   Presumption upon failure to produce license upon request.    - Unexplained refusal of the defendant to produce a license upon request by the officer authorizes the presumption that the defendant does not possess a valid license. Smith v. State, 158 Ga. App. 663, 281 S.E.2d 631, overruled on other grounds, Tanner v. State, 160 Ga. App. 266, 287 S.E.2d 268 (1981).   Conservation officer/ranger engaged in official duties.    - Sufficient evidence supported the defendant's convictions of felony and misdemeanor obstruction of an officer and driving without carrying a license because the on-duty and uniformed conservation ranger had authority to arrest and was authorized to enforce traffic offenses and the state showed that the ranger was acting within the lawful discharge of official duties when the defendant was asked to turn down the music from the vehicle. Thornton v. State, 353 Ga. App. 252, 836 S.E.2d 541 (2019), aff'd, 310 Ga. 460, 851 S.E.2d 564 (2020).   Defeating presumption of no valid license.    - While a failure to show a license on request of a law enforcement officer may give rise to the presumption that the driver does not have a valid license, this presumption is defeated when the license is produced at the trial. McCook v. State, 145 Ga. App. 3, 243 S.E.2d 289 (1978).   Officer lacked reasonable articulable suspicion for stop.    - With regard to the charge of driving without a license against the defendant, the trial court properly granted the defendant's motion to suppress because the officer lacked a reasonable articulable suspicion for making the stop since the officer completely failed to note the unlicensed owner's name and gender as listed in the license plate search report, which did not match the defendant's gender, and made no attempt to observe the driver's gender prior to the stop. State v. Martinez-Arvealo, 340 Ga. App. 271, 797 S.E.2d 181 (2017).   Driving without a license gives probable cause to arrest.    - Because an officer had probable cause to arrest the defendant at the scene of an accident for driving without the defendant's driver's license in the defendant's immediate possession, O.C.G.A. § 40-5-29, the officer's search of the defendant's person as the officer placed the defendant in handcuffs and in the squad car was a valid search incident to an arrest pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 17-5-1. State v. McCloud, 344 Ga. App. 595, 810 S.E.2d 668 (2018), cert. denied, No. S18C0899, 2018 Ga. LEXIS 577 (Ga. 2018).   Charge to jury.    - Because the defendant was being tried for "driving without a valid license" under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20, giving a clarifying charge to the jury on O.C.G.A. § 40-5-29 was not error. Duckworth v. State, 223 Ga. App. 250, 477 S.E.2d 336 (1996), aff'd, 268 Ga. 566, 492 S.E.2d 201 (1997).   Jury question.    - When there was conflicting testimony as to whether the arresting officer asked to see defendant's driver's license, although the production of a valid license at trial operated to defeat the statutory presumption under subsection (b) of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-29, the charge of operating without a valid driver's license was proper and the conflicting evidence required submission to the jury. Johnson v. State, 165 Ga. App. 773, 302 S.E.2d 626 (1983).    Evidence was sufficient to support a conviction since: (1) after the defendant was stopped at a roadblock, an officer asked the defendant for defendant's license and proof of insurance and the defendant responded by asking what the defendant had done; (2) the defendant was told that the defendant had done nothing, but that the papers still needed to be checked; (3) the defendant then stated that the defendant had not committed a crime and asked for the officer's badge number; (4) the officer gave this information to the defendant and then told the defendant that the defendant needed to produce the defendant's papers and that the defendant would otherwise be arrested; (5) the defendant then asked for the code section which permitted the officer to ask for the defendant's license; and (6) after this went on for several minutes, another officer came over and arrested the defendant. Johnson v. State, 234 Ga. App. 218, 507 S.E.2d 13 (1998).    Cited in Thomason v. Harper, 162 Ga. App. 441, 289 S.E.2d 773 (1982); Coop v. State, 186 Ga. App. 518, 367 S.E.2d 836 (1988); Gibson v. State, 187 Ga. App. 769, 371 S.E.2d 413 (1988); Ward v. State, 188 Ga. App. 372, 373 S.E.2d 65 (1988); Rogers v. State, 206 Ga. App. 654, 426 S.E.2d 209 (1992); Rocha v. State, 250 Ga. App. 209, 551 S.E.2d 82 (2001); Gantt v. State, 263 Ga. App. 102, 587 S.E.2d 255 (2003).   RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, §§ 105, 106.   C.J.S.   - 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, §§ 347, 348.   ALR.   - Validity and construction of statute making it a criminal offense for the operator of a motor vehicle not to carry or display his operator's license or the vehicle registration certificate, 6 A.L.R.3d 506.