40-14-1.
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Index ]
As used in this chapter,
the term:
(1) 'Campus' means the grounds owned or
occupied by a college or university.
(2) 'Campus law
enforcement agency' means the campus agency charged with the enforcement of the
laws of this state.
(3) 'College or university' means
an accredited public or private educational institution of higher learning.
(4) 'Speed detection device' means, unless otherwise
indicated, that particular device designed to measure the speed or velocity of a
motor vehicle and marketed under the name 'Vascar' or any similar device
operating under the same or similar principle and any devices for the
measurement of speed or velocity based upon the Doppler principle of radar or
the speed timing principle of laser. All such devices must meet or exceed the
minimum performance specifications established by the Department of Public
Safety.
40-14-2.
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(a)
The law enforcement officers of the various counties, municipalities, colleges,
and universities may use speed detection devices only if the sheriffs of such
counties, or the governing authorities of such counties, or the governing
authorities of such municipalities, or the president of such college or
university shall approve of and desire the use of such devices and shall apply
to the Department of Public Safety for a permit to use such devices in
accordance with this chapter.
(b) No county sheriff,
county or municipal governing authority, college, or university shall be
authorized to use speed detection devices where any arresting officer or
official of the court having jurisdiction of traffic cases is paid on a fee
system. This subsection shall not apply to any official receiving a recording
fee.
(c) A permit shall not be issued by the
Department of Public Safety to an applicant under this Code section unless the
applicant provides law enforcement services by certified peace officers 24 hours
a day, seven days a week on call or on duty or allows only peace officers
employed full time by the applicant to operate speed detection devices. Speed
detection devices can only be operated by registered or certified peace officers
of the county sheriff, county, municipality, college, or university to which the
permit is applicable. Persons operating the speed detection devices must be
registered or certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training
Council as peace officers and certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards
and Training Council as operators of speed detection devices.
40-14-3.
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(a) A county
sheriff, county or municipal governing authority, or the president of a college
or university may apply to the Department of Public Safety for a permit to
authorize the use of speed detection devices for purposes of traffic control
within such counties, municipalities, colleges, or universities on streets,
roads, and highways, provided that such application shall name the street or
road on which the device is to be used and the speed limits on such street or
road shall have been approved by the Office of Traffic Operations of the
Department of Transportation. Law enforcement agencies are authorized to use
speed detection devices on streets and roads for which an application is pending
as long as all other requirements for the use of speed detection devices are
met. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the provisions of Code Section
40-14-9.
(b) The Department of Public Safety is
authorized to prescribe by appropriate rules and regulations the manner and
procedure in which applications shall be made for such permits and to prescribe
the required information to be submitted by the applicants. The Department of
Public Safety may deny the application or suspend the speed detection device
permit for failure to provide information or documentation at the
department´s request.
40-14-4.
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No state, county, municipal, or campus law enforcement
agency may use speed detection devices unless the agency possesses a license in
compliance with Federal Communications Commission rules, and unless each device,
before being placed in service and annually after being placed in service, is
certified for compliance by a technician possessing a certification as required
by the Department of Public Safety.
40-14-5.
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(a) Each state, county, municipal, or campus law
enforcement officer using a radar device shall test the device for accuracy and
record and maintain the results of the test at the beginning and end of each
duty tour. Each such test shall be made in accordance with the
manufacturer´s recommended procedure. Any radar unit not meeting the
manufacturer´s minimum accuracy requirements shall be removed from service
and thereafter shall not be used by the state, county, municipal, or campus law
enforcement agency until it has been serviced, calibrated, and recertified by a
technician with the qualifications specified in Code Section 40-14-4.
(b) Each county, municipal, or campus law enforcement
officer using a radar device shall notify each person against whom the officer
intends to make a case based on the use of the radar device that the person has
a right to request the officer to test the radar device for accuracy. The notice
shall be given prior to the time a citation and complaint or ticket is issued
against the person and, if requested to make a test, the officer shall test the
radar device for accuracy. In the event the radar device does not meet the
minimum accuracy requirements, the citation and complaint or ticket shall not be
issued against the person, and the radar device shall be removed from service
and thereafter shall not be used by the county, municipal, or campus law
enforcement agency until it has been serviced, calibrated, and recertified by a
technician with the qualifications specified in Code Section 40-14-4.
40-14-6.
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(a) Each
county, municipality, college, and university using speed detection devices
shall erect signs on every highway which comprises a part of the state highway
system at that point on the highway which intersects the corporate limits of the
municipality, the county boundary, or the boundary of the college or university
campus. Such signs shall be at least 24 by 30 inches in area and shall warn
approaching motorists that speed detection devices are being employed. No such
devices shall be used within 500 feet of any such warning sign erected pursuant
to this subsection.
(b) In addition to the signs
required under subsection (a) of this Code section, each county, municipality,
college, and university using speed detection devices shall erect speed limit
warning signs on every highway which comprises a part of the state highway
system at that point on the highway which intersects the corporate limits of the
municipality, the county boundary, or the boundary of the college or university
campus. Such signs shall be at least 24 by 30 inches in area, shall warn
approaching motorists of changes in the speed limit, shall be visible plainly
from every lane of traffic, shall be viewable in any traffic conditions, and
shall not be placed in such a manner that the view of such sign is subject to
being obstructed by any other vehicle on such highway. No such devices shall be
used within 500 feet of any such warning sign erected pursuant to this
subsection.
40-14-7.
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No
stationary speed detection device shall be employed by county, municipal,
college, or university law enforcement officers where the vehicle from which the
device is operated is obstructed from the view of approaching motorists or is
otherwise not visible for a distance of at least 500 feet.
40-14-8.
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(a) No county,
city, or campus officer shall be allowed to make a case based on the use of any
speed detection device, unless the speed of the vehicle exceeds the posted speed
limit by more than ten miles per hour and no conviction shall be had thereon
unless such speed is more than ten miles per hour above the posted speed limit.
(b) The limitations contained in subsection (a) of
this Code section shall not apply in properly marked school zones one hour
before, during, and one hour after the normal hours of school operation, in
properly marked historic districts, and in properly marked residential zones.
For purposes of this chapter, thoroughfares with speed limits of 35 miles per
hour or more shall not be considered residential districts. For purposes of this
Code section, the term 'historic district' means a historic district as defined
in paragraph (5) of Code Section 44-10-22 and which is listed on the Georgia
Register of Historic Places or as defined by ordinance adopted pursuant to a
local constitutional amendment.
40-14-9.
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Evidence obtained by county or municipal law
enforcement officers in using speed detection devices within 300 feet of a
reduction of a speed limit inside an incorporated municipality or within 600
feet of a reduction of a speed limit outside an incorporated municipality or
consolidated city-county government shall be inadmissible in the prosecution of
a violation of any municipal ordinance, county ordinance, or state law
regulating speed; nor shall such evidence be admissible in the prosecution of a
violation as aforesaid when such violation has occurred within 30 days following
a reduction of the speed limit in the area where the violation took place,
except that this 30 day limitation shall not apply to a speeding violation
within a highway work zone, as defined in Code Section 40-6-188. No speed
detection device shall be employed by county, municipal, or campus law
enforcement officers on any portion of any highway which has a grade in excess
of 7 percent.
40-14-10.
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It shall be unlawful for speed detection devices to be
used in any county or municipality or on any campus for which a permit
authorizing such use has not been issued or for which a permit authorizing such
use has been suspended or revoked and not reissued. It shall be unlawful for any
official of such county, municipality, college, or university to order such
speed detection devices to be used. It shall be unlawful for any law enforcement
officer of any such county, municipality, college, or university to use any such
speed detection devices. Any such official or law enforcement officer violating
this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
40-14-11.
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(a) Upon a
complaint being made to the commissioner of public safety that any county,
municipality, college, or university is employing speed detection devices for
purposes other than the promotion of the public health, welfare, and safety or
in a manner which violates this chapter or violates its speed detection device
permit, the commissioner or the commissioner´s designee is authorized and
empowered to conduct an investigation into the acts and practices of such
county, municipality, college, or university with respect to speed detection
devices. If, as a result of this investigation, the commissioner or the
commissioner´s designee finds that there is probable cause to suspend or
revoke the speed detection device permit of such county, municipality, college,
or university, he or she shall issue an order to that effect.
(b) Upon the suspension or revocation of any speed
detection device permit for the reasons set forth in this Code section, the
commissioner of public safety shall notify the executive director of the Georgia
Peace Officer Standards and Training Council of the action taken.
(c) Upon receipt from the executive director of the
Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council that an officer´s
certification to operate speed detection devices has been withdrawn or suspended
pursuant to Code Section 35-8-12, the commissioner of public safety or the
commissioner´s designee shall suspend the speed detection device permit for
the employing agency. The period of suspension or revocation shall be consistent
with the action taken by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training
Council.
(d) There shall be a rebuttable presumption
that a law enforcement agency is employing speed detection devices for purposes
other than the promotion of the public health, welfare, and safety if the fines
levied based on the use of speed detection devices for speeding offenses are
equal to or greater than 40 percent of that law enforcement agency´s
budget; provided, however, that fines for speeding violations exceeding 17 miles
per hour over the established speed limit shall not be considered when
calculating total speeding fine revenue for the agency.
40-14-12.
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Upon issuance
by the commissioner of public safety of an order suspending or revoking the
speed detection device permit of any county, municipality, college, or
university, the county, municipality, college, or university affected shall be
afforded a hearing, to be held within ten days of the effective date of the
order. The hearing shall be held before the commissioner or deputy commissioner
of public safety, and, following the hearing, the county, municipality, college,
or university affected shall be served with a written decision announcing
whether the permit shall remain revoked or whether it shall be reinstated.
40-14-13.
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Any county,
municipality, college, or university aggrieved by a decision of the commissioner
or deputy commissioner of public safety suspending or revoking its speed
detection device permit may appeal that decision within 30 days of its effective
date to the Board of Public Safety, which shall schedule a hearing with respect
thereto before the board. Following a hearing before the board, the county,
municipality, college, or university affected shall be served with a written
decision announcing whether the permit shall remain revoked or whether it shall
be reinstated. An adverse decision of the board may be appealed by the county,
municipality, college, or university to the superior court with appropriate
jurisdiction, but the municipality, county, college, or university shall be
denied the use of the speed detection device until after such appeal is decided
by the court.
40-14-14.
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At the expiration of six months following the
suspension or revocation of a speed detection device permit by the Board of
Public Safety or, if no appeal was taken, by the commissioner or deputy
commissioner of public safety, the governing authority of any such county or
municipality or the president of any such college or university may, upon a
change of circumstances being shown to the commissioner, petition the
commissioner for a reconsideration of whether such county, municipality,
college, or university should be permitted to use speed detection devices within
their respective jurisdictions.
40-14-15.
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The Governor, in his discretion, may direct the
commissioner of public safety, or his delegate, to inquire into such change of
circumstances and report the same to him together with any recommendations he
might have. The Governor, in his discretion, may order a new hearing on the
matter before the Board of Public Safety or may, without hearing, issue his
order directing the commissioner to grant a permit to such a county,
municipality, college, or university to use speed detection devices. If a
county, municipality, college, or university shall not be granted a permit to
use such devices, it shall not apply for a rehearing until the expiration of six
months.
40-14-16.
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No
speeding violation of less than ten miles per hour above the legal speed limit
in the county or municipality or on a college or university campus in which a
person is given a speeding ticket shall be used by the Department of Motor
Vehicle Safety for the purpose of suspending or revoking the driver´s
license of the violator. No speeding violation report by a county, municipality,
or college or university campus to the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety which
fails to specify the speed of the violator shall be used by the Department of
Motor Vehicle Safety to revoke the driver´s license of a violator.
40-14-17.
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Evidence of
speed based on a speed detection device using the speed timing principle of
laser which is of a model that has been approved by the Department of Public
Safety shall be considered scientifically acceptable and reliable as a speed
detection device and shall be admissible for all purposes in any court,
judicial, or administrative proceedings in this state. A certified copy of the
Department of Public Safety list of approved models of such laser devices shall
be self-authenticating and shall be admissible for all purposes in any court,
judicial, or administrative proceedings in this state.
40-14-20.
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As used in
this article, the term:
(1) 'Recorded images' has the
meaning provided in subparagraph (f)(1)(B) of Code Section 40-6-20.
(2) 'Traffic-control signal monitoring device' has
the meaning provided in subparagraph (f)(1)(C) of Code Section 40-6-20.
40-14-21.
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(a) The law
enforcement agency of any county or municipality shall not use traffic-control
signal monitoring devices unless the chief law enforcement officer of such
county or municipality desires the use of such devices and such use is approved
by the governing authority of the county or municipality. The governing
authority of the county or municipality shall conduct a public hearing on the
proposed use of such devices prior to entering any contract on or after July 1,
2001, for the use or purchase of such devices.
(b) No
county or municipal governing authority shall be authorized to use
traffic-control signal monitoring devices where any arresting officer or
official of the court having jurisdiction of traffic cases is paid on a fee
system. This subsection shall not apply to any official receiving a recording
fee.
(c) If a county or municipality elects to use
traffic-control signal monitoring devices, no portion of any civil monetary
penalty collected through the use of such devices may be paid to the
manufacturer or vendor of the traffic-control signal monitoring devices. The
compensation paid by the county or municipality for such devices shall be based
on the value of such equipment and shall not be based on the number of citations
issued or the revenue generated by such devices.
(d)(1) A traffic-control signal monitoring device
shall not be used by a law enforcement agency unless the law enforcement agency
employs at least one full-time certified peace officer.
(2) Failure of a law enforcement agency to continue
to meet the standards provided by this subsection shall cause such agency to be
ineligible to use traffic-control signal monitoring devices.
40-14-22.
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The timing of
any traffic-control signal which is being monitored by a traffic-control signal
monitoring device shall conform to regulations promulgated by the Department of
Transportation pursuant to Code Section 32-6-50. Each county or municipal law
enforcement agency using a traffic-control signal monitoring device shall at its
own expense test the device for accuracy at regular intervals and record and
maintain the results of each test. Such test results shall be public records
subject to inspection as provided by Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50. Each
such test shall be made in accordance with the manufacturer´s recommended
procedure. Any such device not meeting the manufacturer´s minimum accuracy
requirements shall be removed from service and thereafter shall not be used by
the county or municipal law enforcement agency until it has been serviced and
calibrated at the expense of the law enforcement agency by a qualified
technician.
40-14-23.
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Each county or municipality using traffic-control
signal monitoring devices shall erect signs on every highway which comprises a
part of the state highway system at that point on the highway which intersects
the jurisdictional limits of the county or municipality. A sign shall be erected
also by such entity on each public road on the approach to the next
traffic-control signal for such road when a traffic-control signal monitoring
device is monitoring such next signal for such road. Such signs shall be at
least 30 inches by 30 inches in measurement and shall warn approaching motorists
that traffic-control signal monitoring devices are being employed.
40-14-24.
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Each county or
municipality using any traffic-control signal monitoring device shall submit not
later than February 1 of each year a report on such use during the preceding
calendar year to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives. Such report shall include, without limitation:
(1) A description of the locations where
traffic-control signal monitoring devices were used;
(2) The number of violations recorded at each
location and in the aggregate on a monthly basis;
(3)
The total number of citations issued;
(4) The number
of civil monetary penalties and total amount of such penalties paid after
citation without contest;
(5) The number of
violations adjudicated and results of such adjudications, including a breakdown
of dispositions made;
(6) The total amount of civil
monetary penalties paid; and
(7) The quality of the
adjudication process and its results.