Which 2010 Georgia misdemeanors did the Attorney General designate as fingerprintable?

Plain-English summary

The Deputy Director of the Georgia Crime Information Center sent the Attorney General a list of 21 new misdemeanor offenses enacted during the 2010 session of the General Assembly. Under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-33(a)(1)(A)(v), the Attorney General has authority to designate offenses for which charged persons must be fingerprinted at arrest.

The AG designated four offenses as fingerprintable. They are: O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127 (carrying a weapon or long gun in a government building, courthouse, jail, place of worship, state mental health facility, bar in certain circumstances, nuclear power facility, or within 150 feet of a polling place), § 40-5-120(5) (scanning another person's driver's license or identification card without consent), § 40-6-77(b) (causing serious injury via a motor vehicle right-of-way violation in collision with a motorcyclist, pedestrian, bicyclist, or farmer transporting agricultural products), and § 42-1-18(b) (a registered sex offender intentionally photographing a minor without parental consent).

The 17 non-designated offenses fall into several categories: hunting and wildlife regulations (no firearms while bow-hunting, hunting at night, freshwater turtle export, native wildlife killed by motor vehicle, trapping on rights-of-way, fertility control on wildlife, firearms in public fishing areas, possession of firearms in wildlife management areas), park-related offenses (fireworks in parks), driving offenses that did not involve serious injury (texting while driving, headphones while driving, restricted license violations), school disruption (§ 20-2-1181), regulatory licensing (athlete agents, massage therapists), and possession of revoked weapons carry license. The AG did not give detailed reasons for each non-designation.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Why is § 16-11-127 (weapons in unauthorized locations) fingerprintable?
A: Carrying a weapon in a sensitive location (government buildings, courthouses, places of worship, polling places, jails, mental health facilities, nuclear power facilities) is a serious public-safety offense even at the misdemeanor level. The AG's designation patterns favor offenses with clear victim impact or where recidivism tracking has practical value. Repeat offenses likely warrant enhanced sentencing or background-check consequences.

Q: What does § 40-5-120(5) actually prohibit?
A: Scanning another person's driver's license or identification card without that person's prior knowledge or consent. The provision targets misuse of ID-scanning equipment by retailers, bars, and others who routinely scan customer IDs. Designation supports investigation of identity-theft schemes that may use scanned ID data.

Q: Why is the texting-while-driving offense not designated?
A: O.C.G.A. § 40-6-241.2 (texting while driving for adults or Class C license holders) was not designated. The AG's pattern is generally to not designate driving infractions that do not result in serious injury. The texting offense in 2010 was treated as a basic moving violation rather than a serious-injury or fatality offense, so it stayed off the fingerprint list.

Q: What about § 40-6-77(b), the serious-injury right-of-way offense?
A: This offense was designated. It applies when a driver's right-of-way violation causes serious injury to a motorcyclist, bicyclist, pedestrian, or farmer transporting vehicle (when the victim is not at fault). The serious-injury element distinguishes it from ordinary right-of-way violations and justifies designation.

Q: Why is § 42-1-18(b) (sex offender photographing a minor) designated?
A: Sex offender registration violations frequently involve concealment, location, or contact-related conduct that supports recidivism tracking. Photographing a minor without parental consent has obvious child-safety implications.

Q: Why aren't the wildlife and hunting offenses designated?
A: Most are regulatory in nature (hunting at night, taking specific game, baiting, trapping locations, export of freshwater turtles). The pattern across the GCIC update opinions is that purely regulatory natural-resources offenses generally don't get designated unless they involve fraud, organized commercial activity, or substantive harm beyond the regulated species.

Q: How does the school-disruption offense (§ 20-2-1181) work?
A: It makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly disrupt or interfere with the operation of a public school, public school bus, or school bus stop. The AG declined to designate it. The reasoning probably reflects that this offense often catches first-time disorderly-conduct situations, and routine designation could attach long-term consequences disproportionate to the typical offense.

Background and statutory framework

The 2010-6 opinion is the standard annual GCIC update opinion. Each year, GCIC compiles a list of newly enacted misdemeanors and asks the AG which to designate as fingerprintable under O.C.G.A. § 35-3-33(a)(1)(A)(v). The opinion is the operational vehicle for adding offenses to the fingerprint-at-arrest list.

The 2010 session was a legislatively active year. The 21 misdemeanors reviewed in this opinion span a wide range of subject matter: weapons carry rules in the post-District of Columbia v. Heller era (Georgia's HB 615), traffic safety enhancements (the texting ban and the serious-injury right-of-way offense), wildlife regulation, sex offender registration, and licensing for new professional categories.

The AG's designation pattern across this opinion mirrors prior years: substantive harm to identifiable victims, public-safety offenses involving sensitive locations, and identity-fraud-adjacent offenses tend to get designated. Pure regulatory and natural-resources offenses tend not to.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- O.C.G.A. § 35-3-33(a)(1)(A)(v), AG authority to designate fingerprintable offenses
- O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127, weapons in unauthorized locations (DESIGNATED)
- O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120(5), unauthorized ID scanning (DESIGNATED)
- O.C.G.A. § 40-6-77(b), serious injury via right-of-way violation (DESIGNATED)
- O.C.G.A. § 42-1-18(b), sex offender photographing minor (DESIGNATED)
- 17 other offenses: NOT designated (see plain summary above)

Source

• Landing page: https://law.georgia.gov/opinions/2010-6
• Original PDF: not linked from landing page

Original opinion text

You have requested, in your letter of July 1, 2010, my opinion concerning whether any of the following misdemeanor offenses enacted during the 2010 Session of the General Assembly should be designated as offenses for which persons charged with violations are to be fingerprinted. Those offenses include: O.C.G.A. § 12-3-10(o)(1) (prohibited activities in parks, historic sites or recreational areas); O.C.G.A. § 16-9-154(a) (prohibited activities with regard to computers); O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127(b) (carrying weapons or long guns in unauthorized locations); O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(e) (possession of revoked weapons carry license); O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1181 (disruption or interference with the operation of a public school, public school bus, or public school bus stop); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-1.1(1)-(2) (prohibited activities in wildlife management areas); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-2 (prohibitions on hunting at night); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-6 (possession of a firearm while hunting with a bow and arrow); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-19.1(a) (regulation of the exporting, farming, and selling of freshwater turtles); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-28(a) (possession of native wildlife killed by a motor vehicle); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-63(a)(1) (prohibitions on trapping, trappers and fur dealers); O.C.G.A. § 27-3-181(b) (use of fertility control on wildlife); O.C.G.A. § 27-4-11.1(a)(1)-(2) (possession of firearms in public fishing areas); O.C.G.A. § 40-5-30(c) (restricted driver's licenses); O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120(5) (unlawful use of driver's license or identification card; O.C.G.A. § 40-6-77(b) (penalties for causing serious injury via motor vehicle due to right-of-way violation resulting in collision with motorcyclist, pedestrian, bicyclist or farmer vehicles transporting agriculture products); O.C.G.A. § 40-6-241.2 (prohibitions on use of wireless communications devices while operating a motor vehicle); O.C.G.A. § 40-6-250 (prohibitions on wearing headsets or headphones while operating a motor vehicle); O.C.G.A. § 42-1-18(b) (prohibition on photographing a minor without the minor's parental consent); O.C.G.A. § 43-4A-4 (prohibitions on acting as an athlete agent); O.C.G.A. § 43-24A-15(d) (prohibitions on providers of massage therapy services). In addition to the list of fingerprintable offenses mandated by statute, O.C.G.A. § 35-3-33(a)(1)(A)(v) provides that the Attorney General may designate any other offense as one for which those charged with violations are to be fingerprinted. The first misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 12-3-10(o)(1). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to use or possess, in any park, historical site, or recreational area, any fireworks, explosives, or firecrackers, unless properly stored or approved by the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The second misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 16-9-154(a). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any unauthorized user to prevent reasonable efforts to block the installation or disabling of a file-sharing program on a computer or to install a file-sharing program onto a computer in certain circumstances. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The third misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127(b). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to carry a weapon or long gun while in a government building, courthouse, jail or prison, place of worship, state mental health facility, bar (in certain circumstances), nuclear power facility, or within one hundred and fifty feet of a polling place. I hereby designate any misdemeanor offenses arising under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127 as offenses for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The fourth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(e). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to possess a revoked weapons carry license, unless in the performance of his or her official duties. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The fifth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1181. That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly disrupt or interfere with the operation of a public school, public school bus or public school bus stop. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The sixth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-1.1(1)-(2). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to possess a firearm or handgun, in a wildlife management area, in certain circumstances. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The seventh misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-2. That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to hunt at night any game bird or game animal except for alligator, raccoon, opossum, fox and bobcat. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The eighth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-6. That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to possess certain firearms while hunting with a bow and arrow or muzzle-loading firearm. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The ninth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-19.1(a). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to export, farm, or sell any freshwater turtle or part thereof, except in accordance with rules and regulation of the Department of Natural Resources. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The tenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-28(a). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to take possession of any animal, killed in a motor vehicle accident, which is of a species that has been designated as a protected species. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The eleventh misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-63(a)(1). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person, except certain persons licensed to trap beaver, to trap any wildlife upon the right of way of any public road or highway in this state. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The twelfth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-3-181(b). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to apply fertility control to any wildlife, except in accordance with a wildlife fertility control permit and rules of the Department of Natural Resources. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The thirteenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 27-4-11.1(a)(1)-(2). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to possess a firearm or handgun, in a public fishing area, in certain circumstances. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The fourteenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 40-5-30(c). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to operate a motor vehicle in violation of the restrictions imposed in a restricted driver's license issued to him or her. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The fifteenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120(5). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to scan another person's driver's license or identification card without the person's prior knowledge or consent. I hereby designate any misdemeanor offenses arising under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-120(5) as offenses for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The sixteenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 40-6-77(b). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to cause serious injury to another person as a result of a collision with a motorcyclist, bicyclist, pedestrian, or farmer transporting vehicle by committing a right-of-way violation when such motorcyclist, bicyclist, pedestrian, or driver of the farmer transporting vehicle are not at fault for the collision. I hereby designate any misdemeanor offenses arising under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-77(b) as offenses for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The seventeenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 40-6-241.2. That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person who is 18 years of age or older or who holds a Class C driver's license to operate a motor vehicle on a public road or highway of this state while using a wireless communication device to write, send or read any text-based communication. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The eighteenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 40-6-250. That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to operate a motor vehicle while wearing a headset or headphone, which would impair such person's ability to hear, except when wearing a headset for communication purposes. It is also a misdemeanor to operate a motor vehicle while wearing any device which impairs such person's vision. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The nineteenth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 42-1-18(b). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to intentionally photograph a minor without consent of the minor's parent or guardian. I hereby designate any misdemeanor offenses arising under O.C.G.A. § 42-1-18(b) as offenses for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The twentieth misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 43-4A-4. That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any person, except in certain circumstances, to act as an athlete agent without holding a certificate or registration. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. The twenty-first misdemeanor offense is O.C.G.A. § 43-24A-15(d). That Code section provides that it shall be a misdemeanor for any entity or person to take certain unlawful actions with regard to massage therapy services. An offense arising from a violation of this Code section does not, at this time, appear to be an offense for which fingerprinting is required and I am not, at this time, designating this offense as one for which those charged are to be fingerprinted. I trust that my revisions of the specific designations of those offenses for which persons charged with violations are to be fingerprinted will aid you in discharging your duties pursuant to the Georgia Crime Information Act. Prepared by: JOSEPH J. DROLET Senior Assistant Attorney General