Should Georgia Change Its Misdemeanor Arrest Laws to Authorize Issuing More Field Citations? Can an Alternative Arrest Process Help Alleviate Georgia's Jail Overcrowding and Reduce the Time Arresting Officers Expend Processing Nontraffic Misdemeanor Offenses?

Authors

Warren Davis

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This Article analyzes whether the legislature should change Georgia's arrest laws to authorize the discretionary issuance of field citations to more nontraffic misdemeanor offenders as a means to help alleviate jail overcrowding and reduce the amount of time required by patrol officers to process misdemeanor arrests. This Article includes a review of current Georgia law concerning citation arrests for nontraffic misdemeanor offenses; published literature; a quantitative analysis of the effects of using the field citation process upon officer processing times and the failure to appear rate within the Gwinnett Judicial Circuit; surveys of Georgia law enforcement executives; and interviews with court administrators, a jail commander, and numerous arresting officers.

Recommended Citation

Warren Davis, Should Georgia Change Its Misdemeanor Arrest Laws to Authorize Issuing More Field Citations? Can an Alternative Arrest Process Help Alleviate Georgia's Jail Overcrowding and Reduce the Time Arresting Officers Expend Processing Nontraffic Misdemeanor Offenses?, 22 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. (2005).
Available at: https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/gsulr/vol22/iss2/6