2023 CODE OF GEORGIA › Title 16 - CRIMES AND OFFENSES (§§ 16-1-1 — 16-17-10) › Chapter 5 - CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON (§§ 16-5-1 — 16-5-110) › Article 7 - STALKING (§§ 16-5-90 — 16-5-96) › Section 16-5-95 - Offense of violating family violence order; penalty

(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
"Civil family violence order" means any temporary protective order or permanent protective order issued pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 13 of Title 19 or Chapter 13A of Title 19.
(2)
"Criminal family violence order" means:
(A)
Any order of pretrial release issued as a result of an arrest for an act of family violence; or
(B)
Any order for probation issued as a result of a conviction or plea of guilty, nolo contendere, or first offender to an act of family violence.
(3)
"Dating violence" means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between persons through whom a current pregnancy has developed or who are currently, or within the last 12 months were, in a dating relationship as defined in paragraph (1) of Code Section
19-13A-1
:
(A)
Any felony; or
(B)
Commission of the offenses of simple battery, battery, simple assault, or stalking.
(4)
"Dating violence order" means any temporary protective order or permanent protective order issued pursuant to Chapter 13A of Title 19.
(5)
'Family violence' means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household:
(A)
Any felony; or
(B)
Commission of offenses of battery, simple battery, simple assault, assault, stalking, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, or criminal trespass.
The term 'family violence' shall not be deemed to include reasonable discipline administered by a parent to a child in the form of corporal punishment, restraint, or detention.
(b)
A person commits the offense of violating a civil family violence order or dating violence order or criminal family violence order when such person knowingly and in a nonviolent manner violates the terms of such order issued against that person, which:
(1)
Excludes, evicts, or excludes and evicts the person from a residence or household;
(2)
Directs the person to stay away from a residence, workplace, or school;
(3)
Restrains the person from approaching within a specified distance of another person; or
(4)
Restricts the person from having any contact, direct or indirect, by telephone, pager, facsimile, email, or any other means of communication with another person, except as specified in such order.
(c)
Any person convicted of a violation of subsection (b) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(d)
Nothing contained in this Code section shall prohibit a prosecution for the offense of stalking or aggravated stalking that arose out of the same course of conduct; provided, however, that, for purposes of sentencing, a violation of this Code section shall be merged with a violation of any provision of Code Section
16-5-90
or
16-5-91
that arose out of the same course of conduct.
Amended by 2024 Ga. Laws 582,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2013 Ga. Laws 207,§ 1, eff. 5/6/2013.
Added by 2003 Ga. Laws 298, § 1, eff. 7/1/2003.