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THURBERT E. BAKER 40 CAPITOL SOUARE SW
ATTORMEY GENERAL ATLANTA. GA 30334-1400
OFFICIAL OPINION 2005-1
To: Commissioner February 18, 2005
Georgia Department of Public Safety
Re: Questions concerning whether a county marshal has authority to operate speed detection devices or otherwise
make vehicle stops based on such operation
You have asked whether a county marshal and the marshal's deputies have authority to operate speed detection
devices or otherwise make vehicle stops based on the operation of such devices. Your request states that the
Department of Public Safety has received a number of requests from county marshals' offices requesting permits to
operate speed detection devices. You further state that the Department has issued one such permit, but because of the
limited jurisdiction of marshals questions have arisen about the authority of marshals to operate speed detection
devices and make vehicle stops based on such operation.
The Department of Public Safety is given the authority under state law to issue permits for the use of speed detection
devices and to prescribe by appropriate rules and regulations the manner and procedure in which applications shall be
made for such permits. O.C.G.A. § 40 14 3(b). The Department may deny or suspend such permits. Id.
Georgia law also provides that [t]he law enforcement officers of the various counties, municipalities, colleges, and
universities may use speed detection devices when approved by the appropriate governing official, i.e., the sheriff of
the county, the governing authority of the county, the governing authority of the municipality, or the president of the
college or university. O.C.G.A. § 40 14 2(a). That official shall apply to the Department of Public Safety for a permit
to use such devices in accordance with this chapter. Id. 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. O.C.G.A. § 40 14 2(c). Thus, in order to apply for and receive a permit pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 40 14 3,
the agency must be a law enforcement agency that employs or appoints peace officers in a sworn law enforcement
capacity.
This office has previously opined that a county marshal's office is not equivalent to a county police force and that a
county [does] not establish a county police force when it create[s] a county marshal's office pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
15 10 100. 1995 Op. Atty. Gen. U95-14. Rather, marshals are employees of the governing authority of the county
employed to perform the duties of constables for courts of limited jurisdiction, i.e., magistrate courts. O.C.G.A. § 15
10 100(c.1)(1); 1982 Op. Atty. Gen. 82-45. Moreover, county marshals may not exercise any power or authority, such
as the power of arrest, vested in the office of sheriff or any other peace officer except as may be authorized by law.
O.C.G.A. § 15 10 100(c.1)(2).1
Marshals, like constables, do not have general police powers. 1987 Op. Atty. Gen. U87 21. Like constables, a marshal
may only arrest an individual when the marshal has a warrant or is directed to arrest the individual and is in the
presence of a magistrate or the judge of another court. O.C.G.A. § 15 10 103. It is plain, therefore, that a county
marshal is not a law enforcement agency as that term is used in Chapter 14 of Title 40 of the Official Code of
Georgia. Moreover, although O.C.G.A. § 15 10 100(c.1)(3) requires that any person employed or appointed as a
marshal meet the requirements of Chapter 8 of Title 35 (the Peace Officer Standards and Training Act), those persons](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagga0002&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)