PocketLaw | Georgia Code | (For Effective Date, See note.)

(For Effective Date, See note.) Investigation of Family Violence; "Predominant Aggressor" Defined; Preparation of Written Report; Review of Report by Defendant Arrested for Family Violence; Compilation of Statistics

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Whenever a law enforcement officer responds to an incident in which an act of family violence, as defined in Code Section 19-13-1, has been committed, the officer shall not base the decision of whether to arrest and charge a person on the specific consent of the victim or on a request by the victim solely or on consideration of the relationship of the parties. No officer investigating an incident of family violence shall threaten, suggest, or otherwise indicate the arrest of all parties for the purpose of discouraging requests for law enforcement intervention.
1. (For effective date, see note.) As used in this subsection, the term "predominant aggressor" means the individual who poses the most serious, ongoing threat, which may not be the initial aggressor in a specific incident.
2. When complaints of family violence are received from two or more opposing parties, or if both parties have injuries, the officer shall evaluate each complaint separately to attempt to determine who was the predominant aggressor. Such officer shall not threaten, suggest, or otherwise indicate that all parties will be arrested. If such officer determines that one of the parties was the predominant physical aggressor, that person may be arrested. Such officer shall not be required to arrest any other person believed to have committed an act of family violence during the incident. In determining whether a person is a predominant physical aggressor, an officer shall consider all of the following:
  1. Prior family violence involving either party;
  2. The relative severity of the injuries inflicted on each person, including whether the injuries are offensive versus defensive in nature;
  3. Threats that created the fear of physical injury;
  4. The potential for future injury;
  5. Whether one of the parties acted in self-defense or in defense of a third party;
  6. Prior complaints of family violence; and
  7. Whether the person had reasonable cause to believe he or she was in imminent danger of becoming a victim of any act of family violence.
Whenever a law enforcement officer investigates an incident of family violence, whether or not an arrest is made, the officer shall prepare and submit to the supervisor or other designated person a written report of the incident entitled "Family Violence Report." Forms for such reports shall be designed and provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The report shall include the following:
1. Name of the parties;
2. Relationship of the parties;
3. Sex of the parties;
4. Date of birth of the parties;
5. Time, place, and date of the incident;
6. Whether children were involved or whether the act of family violence was committed in the presence of children;
7. Type and extent of the alleged abuse;
8. Existence of substance abuse;
9. Number and types of weapons involved;
10. Existence of any prior court orders;
11. (For effective date, see note.) Type of police action taken in disposition of case, the reasons for the officer's determination that one party was the predominant physical aggressor, and mitigating circumstances for why an arrest was not made;
12. Whether the victim was apprised of available remedies and services; and
13. Any other information that may be pertinent.
The report provided for in subsection (c) of this Code section shall be considered as being made for statistical purposes only and where no arrests are made shall not be subject to the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50. However, upon request, a defendant who has been arrested for an act of family violence or the victim shall be entitled to review and copy any report prepared in accordance with this Code section relating to the defendant.
Each police department, including local precincts and county sheriff departments, shall report, according to rules and regulations of the Georgia Crime Information Center, all family violence incidents, both arrests and nonarrests, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which shall compile and analyze statistics of family violence crimes and cause them to be published annually in the Georgia Uniform Crime Reports. An offense shall be counted for each incident reported to the police.A zero shall be reported if no incidents have occurred during the reporting period.

(Code 1981, §17-4-20.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1778, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2939, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1186, § 1; Ga. L. 2020, p. 741, § 1/SB 477.)

Law reviews.

- For annual survey of local government law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 351 (2004). For note on 1991 enactment of this Code section, see 8 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 43 (1992).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Immunity not granted to officers.

- Officers' duty to investigate a report of family violence pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.1(c) was ministerial and, accordingly, official immunity did not apply as such immunity was only applicable to performance of discretionary functions, unless those functions were undertaken with malice or intent to cause injury pursuant to Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX(d). Meagher v. Quick, 264 Ga. App. 639, 594 S.E.2d 182 (2003).

Officer entitled to immunity for suicide of prisoner.

- In a suit against a county police officer following the suicide death of a prisoner, the appellate court properly reversed the denial of summary judgment to the officer because the officer was entitled to qualified immunity with respect to the screening claim of the prisoner for any mental health issues since compliance with the policy and completion of the screening form was ministerial in nature. Pearce v. Tucker, 299 Ga. 224, 787 S.E.2d 749 (2016).

Investigation was unnecessary when the victim's on-the-scene accusations against the defendant, along with "visible bodily harm" to the victim's face, provided sufficient probable cause to believe that the defendant committed battery. McCracken v. State, 224 Ga. App. 356, 480 S.E.2d 361 (1997).

Failure to file report.

- Officers who investigated a claim of possible child abuse failed in the officers' obligation to file a Family Violence Report, as required by O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.1(c), and the trial court properly denied a motion for summary judgment pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 by the officers and others in a wrongful death claim on behalf of a deceased child as genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the officers' failure to investigate and file the necessary report proximately resulted in the child's injuries and death; the definition of "family violence" was broad under O.C.G.A. § 19-13-1, and although "reasonable discipline" was excepted thereunder, the officers had an obligation to investigate allegations that a child was being whipped. Meagher v. Quick, 264 Ga. App. 639, 594 S.E.2d 182 (2003).

Objection to closing argument on whether prosecution in control of victim.

- Counsel did not provide ineffective assistance by failing to object to the prosecutor's statements regarding the state's decision to prosecute the case for family violence aggravated assault. Specifically, during closing argument, the prosecutor stated: 'The State of Georgia took that decision, whether or not to prosecute a case, out of the victim's hands, right? They passed a law and now it's up to the State of Georgia to move forward.' Woodruff v. State, Ga. App. , S.E.2d (Sept. 11, 2020).

Jury instruction based on subsections (a) and (b) was reversible error.

- Jury charge based on O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.1(a) and (b) was not supported by the evidence because only one of the two parties involved in a domestic dispute reported the incident to law enforcement, and the error was not harmless because the error could have led the jury to conclude that the defendant, who was arrested, was the primary aggressor, and undermined the defense of self-defense, which was not permitted under O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21 if the defendant was the aggressor. Dean v. State, 313 Ga. App. 726, 722 S.E.2d 436 (2012).

Cited in Heller v. City of Atlanta, 290 Ga. App. 345, 659 S.E.2d 617 (2008); Wyno v. Lowndes County, 305 Ga. 523, 824 S.E.2d 297 (2019).

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