GA Code § 17-6-54 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 17 - Criminal Procedure|Chapter 6 - Bonds and Recognizances|Article 2 - Sureties|Part 2 - Professional Bondsmen|§ 17-6-54. No Further Compensation After Becoming Surety; When Sum Received to Be Returned to Defendant; Right to Surrender Defendant and to Keep Sum Paid When Defendant Forfeits

  No professional bondsman or his or her agents or employees who receive compensation for becoming the surety on a criminal bond shall thereafter receive any other sum in the case. If the surety surrenders a defendant into the custody of the court, the sheriff, or another law enforcement officer in the jurisdiction where the bond was made before final disposition of the case, the surety is required to return to the principal the compensation received for signing the bond as surety if such surrender of the defendant is for reasons other than:   The defendant's arrest for a crime other than a traffic violation or misdemeanor;   The defendant's cosigner attests in writing the desire to be released from the bond;   The defendant fails to provide to the court and the surety the defendant's change of address;   The defendant fails to pay any fee due to the surety after being notified by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery that the same is past due;   The defendant fails to notify the court and the surety upon leaving the jurisdiction of the court; or   The defendant provides false information to the surety.     In the event of a forfeiture on the bond by the defendant, the surety shall have the right to surrender into custody the defendant who is the principal on the bond without returning any compensation paid by the defendant for the signing of the bond.    (Ga. L. 1921, p. 243, §§ 6, 7; Code 1933, §§ 27-506, 27-507; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1233, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3.)   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 16, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to paragraph (a)(4) shall apply to notices delivered on or after July 1, 2000.   Law reviews.   - For note, "Bail in Georgia: Elimination of 'Double Bonding' - A Partially Solved Problem," see 8 Ga. St. B.J. 220 (1971).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS    Receipt of an uncashed check does not constitute "any other sum" in excess of the fee for becoming a surety on a criminal bond under this section. Johnson v. State, 135 Ga. App. 51, 217 S.E.2d 382 (1975).    Cited in Lunsford v. State, 72 Ga. App. 700, 34 S.E.2d 731 (1945).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL    Requiring collateral as security for bond is not the receipt of "any other sum."  1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U80-3.   RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 8A Am. Jur. 2d, Bail and Recognizance, §§ 101 et seq., 113.   C.J.S.   - 8 C.J.S., Bail; Release and Detention Pending Proceedings, §§ 159, 161, 185, 186, 261 et seq.   ALR.   - Validity, construction, and application of statutes regulating bail bond business, 13 A.L.R.3d 618.   Dismissal or vacation of indictment as terminating liability or obligation of surety or bail bond, 18 A.L.R.3d 1354.   Bail: duration of surety's liability on pretrial bond, 32 A.L.R.4th 504.   Bail: duration of surety's liability on posttrial bail bond, 32 A.L.R.4th 575.   Bail: effect on liability of bail bond surety of state's delay in obtaining indictment or bringing defendant to trial, 32 A.L.R.4th 600.